Trust a Bandit
by MellowMemories
Summary: A life of a girl from konan is changed when she is destined to become a suzaku warrior. But strange things are happening in Konan and Kutou. So what can be worse than having the Priestess of Suzaku and Seiryu at war with each other? TasukixOC Updated!
1. Chapter 1

**Dear Readers: For those of you that love my story I accidently earased it. Don't ask me why and don't ask me how but It was in Accident. I probably wasn't thinking. Anyways as always I thank all of you who reviewed. Happy reading everyone.**

**Trust a Bandit**

**Chapter 1**

A girl of about 11 years old was running to the house to tell her father that she went flower picking today. She told her father that she went into a forest to gather lilies just for him. Her father gazed up at her from his bed and hugged her. She always liked making her father feel better. She knew that her father was still recovering from the flu he just had. But that didn't stop her from making a celebration for her father's birthday. She also started decorating the house with more lilies she gathered.

"Look father, I brought some more flowers to decorate the house" she said excitingly.

"It lightens my heart to see you so happy Mei-li" said Bao-zhi.

"Thank you Father" she said with a smile. "It lightens my heart as well to see you feeling better. I hope you gathered enough strength because your birthday is tomorrow."

"I'll feel better, but I hope that you cleaned up your room young lady."

Mei-li then made a frustrated face "Oh father you know how much I hate that chore. But if it makes you feel better I'll go and do it."

With that she hugged him and left to her room.

Later that night Mei-li was still awake thinking of her mother. A few tears gather on her eyes. Just thinking of her made her sad. Her mother Ai-mu was really a beautiful woman. She had long black hair and blue sapphire eyes. Mei-li was also the image of her mother. Her mother always believed that her daughter would look like her. Still she couldn't forget that horrible night when she was in the room with her mother telling her that she would be alright. Mei-li was 7 years old. Ai-mu suffered from pneumonia and got weaker everyday. Bao-zhi was worried so in the middle of the night he left quickly to search for a doctor. But by the time her father came back with the doctor Ai-mu died in Mei-li's arms. She still remembered her mother's words "Always know that you're not alone and that I will be in your heart forever."

After her mother's death she also realized that she was a bit frightened too. She was thinking of her father too. She was afraid that he would die. A day after her mother's death, Mei-li would always go at night to check on her father fearing he would die. Once her father realizes that she was doing this, he told her not to worry about him. He also promised her that he would never leave her side for as long as he lived. Mei-li still had her doubts so one day she told her father to move her bed into his room. Then her father chuckled and said "Mei-li, didn't I tell you I wasn't going to leave your side no matter what?" She nodded and he continued "That doesn't mean for you to think that I will run away or die of an illness if that is what you're afraid of?" Mei-li blushed a little bit and said "I want to make sure your okay and that nothing will happen to you." Then her father said "Why don't we try it for one day, we will move your bed to my bedroom and see if you're willing to stay up all night watching out for me" Mei-li had never stayed up all night before but she said "I'll do it!" Mei-li did stay up all night but then when she couldn't stand it no longer she fell on the bed and went to sleep. Her father woke after Mei-li had barely gone to bed. Her father laughed softly so he wouldn't wake her up. Mei-li woke up during the afternoon. She found her father watering some plants in the garden. Then she went to him and told him that she tried her best. Bao-zhi was proud of Mei-li. He was even prouder when he heard her saying that he can take care of himself. He was happy to hear those words, no just to stop Mei-li from worrying but he was happy to hear that she had learned to trust him. Then she also realized how silly she had acted. Mei-li smiled at that memory and she fell into a happy slumber dreaming of her mother and father.

Mei-li woke up the next morning to cook breakfast for her father. She woke up a little earlier since it was her father's Birthday. During the time that her mother lived Mei-li learned how to become a great cook. "At least I have something to remember from my mother" she thought as she was making some pork with Beef and some fish that her father caught yesterday. She wanted her father to have the best breakfast ever. When her father woke up she surprised him by shouting "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" her father was surprised when her daughter ran to him and gave him a hug.

"This is quite a surprise Mei-li" he said as he sat down at the table.

"I made you some pork with beef and some fish and I should also serve you some rice."

As they ate her father was talking about the activities they had planned out for the day. Mei-li was so happy that they were going to go fishing together.

Once they were done with their meal Mei-li went to her father and said

"I also made a poem for you" she said happily as she handed him the paper.

The name of the Poem was called "My heart is filled with love"

When he read it he couldn't help but hug his daughter "Mei-li this is a beautiful poem even though it has a few mistakes I found." He said teasingly.

Mei-li knew that her writing was getting better and still needed more practice so she responded at his teasing and smiled. Then they got their fishing supplies and left their village that had a trail which lead to a river that looks like it was flowing peacefully. Mei-li couldn't help but smile at all the scenery in front of her. It was summer and it was really warm. Hearing all the noises like the water flowing and the wind in her face it was just the perfect day for fishing. She closed her eyes and started relaxing. Then all of sudden her father threw water on her face.

"Hey what was that for?" she said as she was coughing a little.

"I'm sorry Mei-li I just wanted to make sure you were awake" he said with a grin on his face.

Soon enough Mei-li started to grab some water on got her father wet. He started laughing and splashed her back. Then it turned into a water war. They accidentally knocked themselves down on the river. Since the river was as deep as their knees they were not worried. Bao-zhi was smiling with a "there's no way you can win against me" look. Mei-li wouldn't give up easily so she knew she couldn't avoid the water so then she reacted quickly and she was able to jump in the air and fly for like a second. She accidentally fell on top of her father. Bao-zhi was surprised to see how high her daughter jumped.

Mei-li got of her father and had a strange look on her face. Bao-zhi didn't know what she was thinking so he put a hand on her shoulder and said

"Mei-li are you feeling alright?"

She didn't know what happened to her. For a moment she was trying to avoid all the water her father was throwing. Then she was surprised when she jumped in the air and flew for a few seconds. She didn't know if it was magic but when her thoughts were interrupted by her father she saw a worried expression on his face. He repeated his question again and Mei-li quickly changed her face with smile

"Yes I am doing alright, don't worry about me I just startled myself when I jumped on top of you. I hope I didn't break anything?"

Bao-zhi then saw she was worried about hurting her father. He said in a comforting tone

"No you didn't harm me in any way. Although I got to say that jump you made in the river really amazed me. Did you know you could do that?"

"No" she said "Let's just forget about it." Then she paused and remembered her victory in the river. "Do you admit defeat then?" She said with a victorious expression.

Knowing that Mei-li was in a better mood he said "I will admit defeat Mei-li, you are the winner, but I won't go easy on you next time."

Then they both were tired from their battle in the water. They both took a nap under the tree and after about 2 hours they heard a splashing noise. They heard fishes in the water. They quickly got up and went in front of the river. Bao-zhi told Mei-li to stay silent. Then he told her to wait until he counted to three. Then he counted to three and they jumped in the river. Bao-zhi caught one but it slipped out of his hands. Then he saw Mei-li with a little fish but then the fish managed to dislodge itself and slapped Mei-li in the face. She was not going to give up. Then she spotted a huge fish. She quickly jumped and grabbed the fish by the tail. She was about to lose it when her father came up behind her to hold the fish

"I can't hold on to it" she was struggling but then Bao-zhi gave her a hard look and said

"Don't think of giving up" soon enough Mei-li was getting a little stronger and managed to pull the fish out. Once they were able to get the fish out they saw how big the fish was.

"This is the biggest fish I ever caught" she said with surprise.

"Don't you mean we caught" he said

Mei-li sighed then smiled "Alright then this is the biggest fish WE caught.

Since they have been in that river for almost three hours they decided it was time to go home. They left the river and started walking toward a trail that would bring them home. The sun was already setting and it got darker and darker as they were walking home.

"I had such a wonderful time father" Mei-li said with satisfaction

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself" he said then "Mei-li is not just the fishing that was fun but to be there with you was all that mattered to me"

Mei-li was touched at her father's words but instead said

"This fish is going to fill me up all the way, I won't be surprised if we have seconds after that" she said

Her father started laughing but then as they were nearing the village Mei-li heard a rock drop on the ground behind her.

"Father did you hear anything" she said with worry

"No Mei-li maybe it was just your imagination" he said

"I guess your right" she said but then she became more alert and saw some shadows up in the trees.

"Father Wait I think we are being watched" she said

"Mei-li will you stop worrying I told you there isn't any….."

Suddenly a bunch of men jumped out from the trees and grabbed Mei-li. Bao-zhi then started going towards the man that held Mei-li captive. Mei-li on the other hand was fighting back by biting him in the arm. The man gave a loud yowl and started pulling the girl's hair. Then a man with brown hair and jewelry came up and said

"Enough" he looked like a man with evil written all over his face. His eyes were grey and his dark brown hair was in a style made for a bandit. He had jewelry in his ears and neck and the clothes he was wearing were made of expensive material. Though he looked handsome standing there like a leader he was up to something and by the look that his men were giving him they all knew what was coming. Then suddenly all the men stopped and did as they were told.

The leader of the group came up to the girl and grasped her chin tightly under his fingertips and said

"Well look what we have here" then he looked up to Bao-zhi and said "Bao-zhi, Bao-zhi haven't you learned that it isn't safe to walk at night especially with this little treasure." All the men were laughing but said nothing more.

Bao-zhi then gave the man a hatred look and said "I don't need for you to give me advice on anything Shan and you better let go of my daughter or I'll kill you."

Shan found this amusing and said "No I don't think we will be giving you this girl any time soon. She now belongs to me"

Bao-zhi then took out his knife and said "How about I challenge you to a duel, if I win you give me back my daughter if lose then I will give you all the money I have."

Shan thought for a moment then said "It's a deal then"

Mei-li had her mouth clamped by one of the men. She hated looking at this hideous man. He smelled like wet dog and she could tell from that this man had been drinking. His brown hair was too unruly and his eyes looked like a savage that wants to kill its prey. She bit the man's hand and yelled

"Father please don't do this you'll get yourself killed"

The man gave a loud cry and was cradling his hand from her bite then he took the girl by the waist with a knife on her throat and said "You do that again girly and you'll wish you've never been born"

She complied with the man and couldn't believe that her father was about to battle this horrible man. She then wondered how she knew that man. So many questions started developing on her mind.

Her father turned around and said "Hey get that knife away from my daughter" he then turned to Mei-li and said "Listen Mei-li I want you to be strong and hang on. I have to do this. Please don't say anything. Everything will be fine." With that he turned around and faced Shan. Shan took out a weapon from his hand and threw it on the ground. With an evil smile on his face he said

"How about we fight with our bare hands man to man battle"

Bao-zhi then dropped his own knife on the ground and said "Fine"

Then soon Shan made the first move and used his fist to punch Bao-zhi in the face.

Bao-zhi blocked his fist with his hand. He then punched Shan in the stomach. Shan fell to the ground then grabbed Bao-zhi's foot and dropped him on the ground then he locked him with his legs and started punching him in the face. Bao-zhi started getting a nose bleed and got some of his teeth knocked out.

Mei-li couldn't stop crying. Her father getting attacked by this cruel man just made her heart sink. She knew there was nothing she could do for her father. After all those years of looking out for her father she suddenly felt useless.

When he stopped punching her father Shan got up quickly and got his knife and said "I did tell you I wasn't going to use a weapon but that doesn't mean that I can change my mind" he walked up to Bao-zhi laying on the floor.

Bao-zhi was breathing hard and then said "Considering the way you fight you shouldn't even be called a man"

That really angered Shan and lifted the knife in the air. With that he quickly brought the knife down thinking that the heart was best option to get Bao-zhi. With incredible strength Bao-zhi rolled over and barely managed to escape. He got up and said with a savage smile on his face

"You thought it was that simple to get rid of me, you have no idea what you're up against"

Mei-li was filled with relief. When she saw that knife go up in the air she thought her father was going to die.

Shan then screamed and ran towards Bao-zhi but before he could even reach him Bao-zhi grabbed Shan and slammed him onto the ground with great force. All his men saw with shocked looks on their faces. Shan hated this humiliation with his men. Probably the men thought "The great Shan is defeated by a villager." Shan wasn't able to get up but said

"There's no way you're getting away" he was coughing and some blood came out

Bao-zhi ignored him and then went up to the man holding his daughter and said "Since I managed to knock out your leader you better hand me back my daughter unless you want to suffer they same way your leader has."

The man suddenly was afraid and quickly let go of the girl. Mei-li quickly went to her father and was gathered in her father's arms.

"Did you have to scare me like that?" she said with some anger in her voice.

"It's okay Mei-li it's over" he said with a comforting voice "Why don't we go home now."

Mei-li and her father started walking home.

Suddenly Shan managed to get up. He grabbed the knife and with a few yards away from Mei-li and Bao-zhi he quickly threw the knife and it landed on Bao-zhi's back.

Mei-li screamed as her father had a shocked look on his face and fell down to the ground. That's when Shan looked at the girl and said

"Don't worry I won't take you away however your father did promise me all his fortune so if you don't mind I will be taking what's mine later on."

Mei-li was crying and got up and told him "Someday I will make you pay for this."

Filled with pure hatred on her eyes she saw the bandit laughing and said

"Well since you're a girl and I am bigger than you I doubt you'll be able to take me on."

With that he left and ordered his men to make preparations for his battle with some other bandits he was talking about. Mei-li didn't hear but then she saw her father and quickly went down on the ground. Her father wasn't moving. She still had hope that her father was alive. Then she heard her father groaning and he slightly opened his eyes. Looking up at her he used his finger delicately to move get the tears of Mei-li. Mei-li put her father's hand on her cheek and said

"Father please don't leave me I don't want to lose you"

Bao-zhi said with weakness "Please don't cry for me Mei-li. I want you to listen to me. Do you remember when I told you that I was not going to be here forever? Now is the time that you learn to look out for yourself. I know what I am saying is hurting you but you have to be strong and promise me that you will be happy."

Mei-li couldn't stop crying but then thought that the only way to please her father was to say yes. She then said "Alright, for you I will be strong. But you will live." She got up quickly and said "I'll go find a doctor."

She didn't hear her father respond and then she looked at him and realized that he was dead. Mei-li couldn't believe this. Her father died on his birthday and all they did was go on a fishing trip to enjoy themselves. He seemed so alive a few hours ago and was filled with so much health and joy in his eyes. All that happiness eventually came to an end.

Mei-li knew she couldn't go on. Instead of leaving her father she lay next to her father and hugged him. She didn't want to leave him. She tired herself from crying and then fell asleep.

**Yes Uploaded Chapter 1. On with Chapter 2.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's Chapter two. I forgot to say that I don't own Fushigi Yuugi. Yuu Watase does. On with the chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

Mei-li slept for a few hours. She opened her eyes a little to see her father lying next to her. She couldn't believe her father was dead right in front of her and yet she was still by his side. She remembered all the things that she did with her father in her younger years. She couldn't stop remembering the wonderful times she had with him. Taking her out to pick up flowers in the forest, going fishing, spending the whole day napping with him under a tree, it all seemed like that happened so long ago now that her father was dead.

"I hate myself" she muttered as she looked at her father with guilt in her eyes "Why didn't I see the blade coming. I heard the man coming but I wasn't able to save him in time." She started sobbing and covering her face with her hands.

Then something in front of her appeared. It looked like a bright light. Then the light got brighter as a shadow came out and shaped itself into an old lady. The old lady appeared in front of Mei-li and had a face filled with a lot of wrinkles. It was hard to tell what the old lady was thinking of but Mei-li could tell that this was no ordinary woman. Even her beautiful robes symbolize that she must be ruler of something. She also looked very wise and calm. Just then when both of them didn't say anything Mei-li boldly asked

"Who are you and what do you want?"

The old lady didn't say anything for a moment then she said "If you must know my name is Taiits-kun and I am the ruler of this world. Anymore questions?"

Mei-li was a bit mad at her and said "Yes I do have another question, do you know anything about my father's death?" She didn't mean to ask this question but Mei-li thought "since this lady just appeared out of nowhere and was the ruler of this world she must have some information on those bandits that attacked my father. Stupid Bandits I hate them, I hate them!" she thought with anger.

The old woman then looked a bit offended and said "I am not here to harm you child and if you're thinking that I know about your father's death think again because I don't know what happened here although it sadness me to see your face like this and I am sorry about your father. But the reason I came here is because I sensed a strong life force. When my magical mirror gave me an image of a young girl with black girl and blue eyes I got closer and found where you were located. You posses a great power Mei-li and can even become a warrior that can overcome possible wars."

Mei-li started laughing but not with humor

"Well then you came all this way for nothing then." Then there was sadness in her eyes "There is nothing special about me, I am just a useless girl who comes from a village not far from here, besides how can I become a warrior when this helpless weak girl couldn't even save her own father" She said with some sadness and a lot of guilt.

"Listen to me Mei-li gender doesn't matter when it comes to becoming a warrior or a protector of this world, but if you carry that sorrow and hate with you it will take you nowhere." Mei-li didn't really want to listen but oh it hurt that Taiits-kun was telling the truth. Taiits-kun continued "If you give yourself enough time you'll unleash strength inside you that you never knew was there and will go through obstacles in life that you'll be glad you did.

Mei-li was confused about all these things the old lady was telling her. "You don't know what you're talking about. Please just leave me alone." She looked at her father and then said "If you will excuse me I am going to bury my father now."

Taiits-kun stopped her and said "What are you going to do after you are done burying your father?"

Mei-li simply said "I have no plans in my life; all I want to do is just vanish from this world and wish I was never here in the first place." She saw that Taiits-kun was smiling but didn't know why "What are you so happy about?" she asked with frustration.

"Why don't we have a truce?"

Mei-li then said "A truce for what?"

Taiits-kun said "As I said earlier you are special. I am not going to force you to change your mind. I want you to know if you are willing to go to another world for 6 years and then come back here to Konan and agree to go on a long journey for your seventeenth birthday."

Mei-li then asked with curiosity "There are other worlds?"

Taiits-kun said with a bored voice "Yes there are other dimensions that are connected to our world. The only reason I am telling you to go to another world is because I want you to start a fresh life for a few years and adapt to things around you. I want to nourish your spirit and make sure you are ready for the challenges you are about to face when you come back to Konan.

Mei-li then asked "So even if I don't go to another world these things you are telling me are going to happen to me anyway?"

Taiits-kun said "Yes Mei-li, do you agree with my Truce?"

Mei-li did promise her father she would find happiness so what better way to do it than to adapt to a whole new world. Mei-li didn't know what to expect if she got there. Knowing that she had no other option she said softly

"Yes Taiits-kun I will go but on one condition" Taiits-kun listened and Mei-li continued

"Will you promise to keep my father in safe place while I am gone?"

Taiits-kun then closed her eyes and then smiled "Of course child, I was also going to ask you if you wanted your father to be buried in my home land Mt. Taikyoku. It's very peaceful there and your father will be very safe there."

Mei-li was very touched by the old woman's intentions "Thank you"

Then Taiits-kun came closer to her father's body and then started moving her hands strangely. Then she said a command and then her father started fading away slowly.

Mei-li then asked with some worry "What did you do to him I wanted him to be safe not to disappear?"

Taiits-kun looked at the girl annoyingly and then said "What do you think I did to him, fed him to the wolves. I just transported your father to a room in my home where he is safe from harm."

Mei-li was a little embarrassed "I know that I just wanted to make sure he was okay when he got there."

"Well then now that we got that settled shall we go?" Mei-li nodded at Taiits-kun.

Then Taiits-kun brought out a magical carpet. Mei-li was fascinated with the magic the old lady possessed. She got on the carpet and got scared when Taiits-kun controlled the carpet and went up in the air. Mei-li was not afraid of heights but she did get air sick on the way.

Taiits-kun chuckled loudly "I'm afraid I have to make you travel by foot next time but this is the fastest way I could think of."

Mei-li frowned a bit "Don't underestimate me just because of my air sickness since it's my first time riding a magic carpet. I'll get use to it."

Taiits-kun didn't respond but didn't want to bother to argue with the girl since she knew she would end with the last word. She found this girl very stubborn and independent but she knew that she could be the next warrior of Suzaku. She didn't know how or why but she believes that when Mei-li matures she will be able to prove herself worthy. She will tell her about the Suzaku warriors and the Universe of the four Gods when she is older. She's too young for this sort of information. She knows Mei-li has a strong heart and wants to help her get over her father's death.

As they neared Mt. Taikyoku Mei-li was fascinated by how beautiful the view of the mountains was. Then Taiits-kun landed on the bottom of the mountains Mei-li got of the carpet and saw when the carpet disappeared. Then she looked how high she had to climb. Then she didn't start to ask but started to quickly run up the mountain. Then after a few minutes she asked with tiredness

"Do I have to climb all of this?"

Taiits-kun "You are going to face far more challenges in life than just a few climbs to my home. Now quit complaining we are almost there."

When she finally made it to the top she saw a gorgeous enchanted house with beautiful gardens. Mei-li's eyes were wide open. Then Taiits-kun leads her inside her home where there were beautiful decorations on the wall. It looked like an old-fashioned hall filled with beautiful paintings of some warriors. Then she went to a bright room. It looked like everything in the room was enchanted from the furniture to the wall and the bed where her father laid. She quickly ran to him and saw how peaceful his face was. She stared at him for just a moment. Then she looked at Taiits-kun and was about to ask her a question when the doors were opened loudly. A bunch of little girls came and were saying "Taiits-kun, Taiits-kun, we can heal, we can heal, we can…

Taiits-kun then smacked all the girls and were all thrown in the air.

"Those silly little Nyan-Nyans still haven't learned that is rude to barge in a room without knocking first."

Mei-li laughed at the Nyan-Nyans. She thought they were really cute little girls. Then they saw the little girls going to her father. Then they all picked up her father from the bed. They started walking quickly out of the room. Mei-li then asked Taiits-kun

"Where are they taking my father?"

Taiits-kun calmly told her "Don't worry they are just taking him to my back garden where he will be buried."

Mei-li then calmed down a bit and said "I know it's time to say goodbye to him, and I am willing to accept his death. But I feel so empty inside. Knowing that I lost both my parents and all my other relatives I don't have anyone else to lose."

Then Taiits-kun went to the girl and told her "Let's go to my garden and do a ceremony for your father."

Mei-li nodded quickly and Taiits-kun took her out of that room and led her to the garden in the back of her home. The garden was so beautiful it sparkled with health. All the flowers were blooming and the grass was perfectly green. Then she saw the Nyan-Nyans. They placed her father on the ground where he was about to be buried. Then Mei-li went to her father and said her last goodbye to him. Then as he was being buried she was doing a prayer over him.

After the ceremony was over Mei-li was still there looking at her father's tomb. She has been there for hours. Mostly she was there because she had a lot of thinking to do. She was thinking of who those bandits were. She found suspicion that her father might have been a bandit once but then ignored that possibility. But still she was determined to find out about those men who killed her father. Then her face wrinkled a bit as she said with anger

"Father I promise to avenge your death by the time I turn seventeen." With that she left her father's tomb. Her hate started to grow for bandits. She vowed that she would never trust a bandit.

She left her father's tomb and she was walking toward the same girls who were working on something but she couldn't see from far away. She got closer and saw that they were struggling with something. Then she saw that the girls were trying to fix up Taiits-kun's face. Taiits-kun did have a lot of wrinkles and the girls kept on whining that they wanted to fix her face.

"Too much wrinkles, too much wrinkles, too much wri…"

Taiits-kun lost her temper and hit the girls with her magical fan. The girls flew up in the air and then landed on the floor complaining that they needed to be healed.

"If I here them say that one more time I am going to turn them into frogs." Then she heard a laughter coming from the room and turned around to see Mei-li laughing.

"Now that's how you should be like right now" Taiits-kun then looked at her with a smile "Laughing is good for the spirit."

"I didn't mean to laugh but I uh when I saw the Nyan-Nyans trying to fix your" she gestured at her face "I couldn't help myself." She was giggling again but then Taiits-kun made her snap out of it

"Alright that's enough about my face." Then she got more serious and told Mei-li "I know that I am pressuring but I have to tell if you are willing to go into this new world right now?"

Mei-li was a bit unsure of what to say "I don't know if I am ready. Do you think I can stay here for a few more hours?"

Taiits-kun then told her with some impatience "I will give you a few hours. But I want you to meet me in the Oracle at the end of that hall by midnight." She pointed toward the Hall where she came from and said that she would find red door. Then Taiits-kun closed her eyes and said "Meanwhile I will prepare the oracle so I could gather enough strength to transport you." With that she left Mei-li alone in the hall. Mei-li took a deep breath and went to the room Taiits-kun gave her. She closed her door where she would gather her thoughts and prepare for her new life.

It was Midnight and Taiits-kun was in the Oracle waiting for Mei-li to arrive. This room was where she did all her spells. It was dark right now and the only thing that was glowing was a red light shaped like a ball that she had on her hands. She was holding it without touching it. The ball was floating in Taiits-kun's hands. She managed to gather enough power to take Mei-li to another dimension. Then she was annoyed. She wondered what was taking Mei-li so long to prepare. Then she got startled when she heard the doors flying. Mei-li had flung the door open and was standing there like she was ready to go to war. Taiits-kun was mad and had almost drop the magical red light

"I told you to meet me here not to scare ten years of my life?"

Mei-li smiled mentally and thought that how could she scare ten years of her when she looked like she had no years left. She had reached her oldest age. Well she didn't want to bother arguing with the old wise ruler. She also wanted to avoid her magical spells and not risk herself as the bait. After her thinking about Taiits-kun's spells she said instead

"I'm sorry for scaring you Taiits-kun. I just feel that I am ready to start a new life."

Knowing that this was her last day in Konan she wanted to bring her most precious items. She had a necklace that belonged to her mother. The necklace was made of a purple sapphire stone that seemed priceless. Then she had a blue stone that her father had carved for her when she was born. It said Bao wu which means treasure. Then she placed those two items in her pocket of her worn out dress. Then Taiits-kun motioned her to come in front of her.

"I am going to do a transportation spell do you think you can handle it?" asked Taiits-kun.

Mei-li swallowed but nodded. She was afraid but eager at the same time to find out where her new life awaited.

But instead of doing the spell Taiits-kun gave her a beautiful medallion that had a small mirror in it. "I will call you with this mirror" she explained "and I will direct you to where I am when the time comes. Don't lose it." She handed the medallion to Mei-li. Then she told Mei-li to focus and close her eyes.

"I want you to stand still once I placed this red light on you it will be painful. I want you to focus your energy on this red light and I will place some of my life force over you."

Then Mei-li looked at the red light. Then she closed her eyes and Taiits-kun began the spell. Mei-li felt relaxed at first when her energy was focusing on the red light. Then the light got bigger as it entered inside of Mei-li. She started screaming but Taiits-kun told her to focus. Mei-li struggled and she was trying her best to focus. Then Mei-li felt her body fading away. She saw Taiits-kun disappearing. Then she was gone completely.

Mei-li was flying really fast. She was passing through another dimension filled with a red sky and the clouds around were bright orange. Mei-li didn't know where she was going. Then she couldn't see where she was. A red fog was blocking her view. She was trying to get out of the fog when she saw a bright yellow light. Maybe that was the opening of where the world was. Then she flew over there and closed her eyes.

Feeling dizzy Mei-li barely managed to get up. When she scratched her eyes open she saw in realization that she wasn't in Konan anymore. She was in the back of an alley. It smelled really bad. There was a lot of trash behind the alley. She thought this was an ugly place. There were buildings everywhere. Then she saw the sun shining brightly in front of her. She came out from the shadowy alley. It didn't look like Konan at all. She saw a lot of people in the streets walking. She could tell that it was busy. She wasn't use to the big buildings and the unnatural air she was breathing. She smelled all kinds of things like smoke coming from vehicles. She didn't know much about those but she was determined to learn everything she could about this city and it's technology. Then she saw a big sign that looked like a billboard that said "Welcome to Tokyo, Japan."

Then she left walking away to explore this new world.

**Yes we bring Mei-li to a new world. Wanna find out what happens next. Chapter 3 already here.**


	3. Chapter 3

Here's Chapter 3. I know I write a lot but I want to get into the details. Tasuki doesn't come out till later. Be patient.

**Chapter 3**

Mei-li was walking in the streets of Tokyo. She started noticing that people were staring at her also. When she saw how she looked like she realize people were looking at her appearance. She was a bit uncomfortable with all the curious stares people were giving her. Her head bent down a bit. She knew that people were not going to get use to her. But she didn't really care. Then she approached a crosswalk. The light said STOP. But Mei-li didn't see the red light and she also ignored it. She started crossing the street. Then she saw a car going at full speed. The teenager driving saw the girl and stopped really fast. Mei-li closed her eyes and thought she was going to die. Then she saw that the driver had crashed with another car. Then the driver furiously yelled at her

"What do you think you're doing? Don't you know how to read the stop sign?"

Then a middle aged woman came outside from the store to see her car she was furious when she saw the teenage boy had messed up her car

"Look what you've done to my car." Then she told her friend "Teenage drivers are the worst driver's. All they are good at is going on joyrides and before you know it they crash into other people's cars."

"Hey it wasn't my fault. That girl with the ugly clothing didn't stop when the light was red. My light was green. It was her fault because she was in the way." He wasn't going to give in to this lady. The lady didn't believe it was the girls fault. They started arguing with people watching.

Mei-li didn't want to talk to the man or hear the angry lady. Since both of them wouldn't believe she came from another world she quickly cross the street and ran away from the scene of the accident. She was running really fast. She wanted to get away from all these people. She wanted to find a peaceful place to be alone. She didn't know for how long she was running but she came along a nice park. There were people but they didn't notice her. She saw there were a lot of children playing. She decided to walk for a few minutes and then sit down in the grass. She enjoyed watching the children play. Then she saw a happy family with their little girl. She estimated the girl about 4 years old. Her mother was pushing her on the swing and her father was using a camera to take pictures of her daughter. This family reminded her so much of her own. But she enjoyed watching them although it saddened her at the same time.

Mei-li watched so much activity in this park she was surprised that no one left yet even though the sun was already setting. Then the little girl and her family left. That's when Mei-li got up and then she saw there were a bunch of Lilies in the other side of the park. The lilies lifted some of the darkness from her heart. Lilies reminded her so much of her father. Mei-li went to the other side and saw how beautiful the lilies were blooming. She kneeled on the ground and started gathering a bouquet of lilies. She started to make a necklace. She was having fun doing this. Then she heard a loud thud.

She saw about four boys beating up a smaller boy. Then she saw the tallest boy who in her prediction must be the leader. She heard him say

"Hey guys I think we got a teacher's pet here" then he took the letter from the small boy and started reading it loudly to his pals.

"Dear Miss Adara I just wanted to say that you're dancing skills are wonderful. I like to dance and I would like to join your dancing class." Then he ripped the letter and threw it into the boys head. The little boy started crying.

Mei-li was heartbroken by the little boy's sob. She couldn't stand seeing the boy being bullied by this obnoxious boy. She walked really fast meeting the tall boy in front of her

"Hey is there a problem here?" all the boys turned around to see a girl with black hair and blue eyes. Her clothes looked like they were old fashioned.

"And where are suppose to be from another planet?" Said the tall boy as his friends started laughing at his comment.

"Concerning yourself with people from other planets isn't important right now" she said sternly. "Right now I want you to leave that boy alone or else I will have to fight you."

"Wait a minute, hold on, you think you could fight me and beat me. Did you hear that boys? I am going suffer a worse fate than death. Oh no! Aaahhhh!" He was making fun of Mei-li and from the look on her face she was getting ready to pounce on that tall boy with blond hair and green eyes.

"I would run if I were you" she said to scare him.

"Just wait till I get my hands on you. You are going to regret this." He started cracking his knuckles and stretching his hands.

That's when he started running towards Mei-li and tried to grab her. Mei-li quickly moved away from his grasp. That's when Mei-li quickly ran to him and when he faced her she kicked him in the face and knocked him down. When the boys saw their leader down, they started running toward Mei-li. Mei-li heard the boys behind her so she did a flip in the air and the boys missed her. Mei-li landed perfectly on her feet. Then she ran quickly and did like a dancing style kick and got one of the boys in the head and was knocked down. Then the two boys remaining started surrounding Mei-li. She jumped again and did a flip in the air. The boys accidentally ran toward each other and bumped. Mei-li was laughing as the boys started running away from her. The leader woke up and started chasing his friends calling them cowards.

When Mei-li made sure they were out of sight she turned around and walked over to the boy sitting on the grass

"Hey are you okay?"

They boy looked up at the girl with his brown eyes. He seemed okay, except that he was blushing a little at the girl

"Um yeah sure I'm okay"

"Well that's good to hear. What's your name?" she asked politely

"M-My name is H-Han yeah my name is Han" he was stumbling over his own words. He was younger than Mei-li but realized that she was a nice girl that would be a great friend to have.

"My name is—

"Bravo my dear bravo!" Mei-li was startled by the lady's voice. She came up from behind them. She looked like she was in her middle twenties. She was pretty with her brown hair her pinned up in a bun and her green eyes were sparkling with excitement. She was dressed in her ballet teaching outfit.

Han immediately recognize her "Hi Miss Adara what are you doing here?"

Miss Adara simply said "I felt like going for a walk so I came here. Then I heard some shouts coming from the other side of the park so I wanted to see what was happening. But I see your friend here took care of everything." She said looking at Mei-li

Mei-li was a bit embarrassed but said "It was nothing. I just had to do that. I enjoyed it too. It felt like I was dancing but I was actually fighting."

"Don't say that. It was an entertaining performance. Those were some amazing dancing moves you came up with. Those flips you did amazed me. You jump pretty high. I could almost say you were flying. If you keep on practicing you will soar even higher." Miss Adara said with encouragement

Then Mei-li remembered when the tall bully was reading a letter about Han wanting to join her dancing classes. "Hey I think Han would be interested in joining your class. He likes to dance."

Miss Adara faced the boy and said "Han would you like to join my dancing school?"

Han smiled at Miss Adara and said "Yes thank you oh thank you."

Then Miss Adara looked at Mei-li and said "Would you like to join my dancing class?"

"I don't know?"

Miss Adara then looked at Han and said "You wouldn't want to disappoint Han; he would like to be with you so you can teach him also."

Mei-li did like to dance and would want to practice to get better so she told Miss Adara "Yes I would like to join your dancing class."

Miss Adara was happy to hear that but then she had another question for Mei-li "I also wanted to know your name?"

Mei-li didn't want to give her Chinese name so she quickly thought of a lie and looked at her lilies

"My name is Yuri."

"That's a great name. Now that you are enrolled in my dancing class it's time to go home. Your parents must be worried." Adara said

Yuri hesitated for a moment but told her "My parents are not alive anymore. I lost all my relatives as well. So I try to find a place to stay sometimes but mostly I sleep on the streets at night."

Then Miss Adara said "I'm sorry about your parents Yuri. Then she was angry "You slept all by yourself outside. How could people leave you outside to freeze?"

"I'm already getting use to it" Yuri said

Then Adara narrowed her eyes "I don't care if your use to it. I won't have you sleeping in the streets." Then Adara thought for a moment as an idea occurred to her "Yuri would you like to live with me?"

This really was the beginning of a new life opportunity for Yuri. After all she promised her father she would find happiness. Even though she barely met this woman she knew she had a good heart. "Yes" she thought "Bao-zhi I will be happy and start a new life with this wonderful woman who eagerly offered me to live with her. And I don't have another place to stay in." She went up to Miss Adara and said

"Yes Adara I would be honored to live with you."

Miss Adara was happy to hear Yuri wouldn't be sleeping outside tonight. "That's great Yuri. I can't wait to show you my apartment. I've been decorating. I'll give you a tour around my dance studio also."

Yuri thought this was the nicest woman in the world. Things couldn't get better than that for Yuri. Then Han interrupted by saying

"I'd better be going home, it was good to talk to you Miss Adara and Yuri thanks for saving my butt. I owe you one." Then he left and waved at Miss Adara and Yuri. Miss Adara then told him from far away

"Classes start next week on Monday at four. Don't be late."

"Alright I'll see you next week then." Then he was out of sight.

Then Miss Adara looked at Yuri's clothes and said

"Looks like from the clothes your wearing something tells me you're not from around here."

Yuri didn't want to talk about that she was from another world so instead she said

"I'd rather not talk about my past."

Miss Adara didn't want to upset Yuri with her troubles so instead she said soothingly

"Its okay Yuri you don't have to tell me anything. What matters is that you are looking forward and forgetting the past. But you do need new clothes. Those clothes you're wearing have seen their days. Tomorrow we have some serious shopping to do. I will even let you pick out your new clothes.

"Shopping?" Yuri asked

"Yes shopping means when you want to go to the store and buy things." Then Miss Adara sighed and said "I will take you to some good shopping centers I know. But we'll go home and I'll see if I can find something else to for you to wear."

Yuri then looked up at her new mother with adoring eyes and told her

"Adara let's go home I am going to need my rest if I will be in the stores all day with you."

Miss Adara laughed and said "Oh Yuri."

Yuri said "I can't wait for your classes to start." Then she heard her stomach rumble Adara grin widely at the Yuri and her noise maker "I'm also very hungry."

Adara was amused by Yuri "Well after that fight you put up with I guess you could eat a whole restaurant."

Yuri was laughing at that and then Adara said "Let's go home and get something to eat. I am just as hungry as you are."

They walked away from the park and Yuri started walking towards the home that awaited her.

When they finally reached their home there was a building that was colored grey. A big sign on the building said Adara's Dancing Lessons. Miss Adara explained to Yuri that her home was on top of where the dancing studio was. Then Miss Adara walked to where she found her Honda vehicle. Yuri then asked with curiosity

"What is that thing called?"

"This is called a car. It's like something that gives you transportation to where you want to go. It's pretty comfortable to."

Yuri understood and was eager to get inside the vehicle. But then Miss Adara went to the side of the building. She took her keys out from her purse and opened the door. She started showing Yuri around her dance studio. She showed her all the things they would be doing. But since she had some things to do like get Yuri adapted to things she figured it would take her days week's even months to teach Yuri all the things they do in Tokyo. After she finished showing Yuri around the dance studio and showing her when she would start her dancing classes she opened another door which had stairs. They climbed up the stairs and approached two apartment doors. The one that had the number 329 was Miss Adara's. She opened the door and let Yuri go in first.

Yuri saw that it was a big apartment but she thought it looked really nice. There were four doors. She had a view of a living room with a Television and a couch. There was paper stacked everywhere but it looked tidy. The carpet was brown and she had beautiful paintings on the walls. The walls were beige and she had a little kitchen with a table and two chairs. Before Miss Adara showed her around she said

"I will make you something to eat." Then she saw Adara going to the refrigerator to get some frozen food.

Yuri looked at the food and asked "How am I going to eat the food frozen like that?"

Adara laughed and said "Yuri I am not going to give you the food like this. I am going to warm it up in this microwave." She gestured toward the microwave. Yuri was amazed at how that box could warm up the food fast. When Adara took out the food she showed it to Yuri

"See? It isn't hard all you do is press frozen food button and it will do the job for you." Yuri looked at the mash potatoes, corn and chicken with appreciation and started eating right away. Adara also made a frozen dinner for herself. After Yuri finished her plate she asked Adara

"How many other kinds of food are there?"

"I don't know I can't memorize all that there is. But I'll take you the restaurants in Tokyo and show you some places where you can have great desserts." Adara went to the refrigerator and got out some chocolate chip ice cream in a cone and gave it to Yuri.

"This is the best dessert I have ever tried." She finished her ice cream. Once she knew she was full that's when Adara decided to show her around her apartment. Then she told Yuri

"Yuri, don't be shy to ask me questions about anything?" Yuri nodded and they went into the first room. It was a pink room with a comfortable bed. There was a lamp and a closet that was empty. She also saw a window and looked outside. Yuri said

"This really is a beautiful room and I like the view."

"Yes it is beautiful although it needs to be fixed up."

"What does it need exactly?" Yuri asked

"It needs you. Its very empty right now and once you go into this room it will be a beautiful room."

Yuri liked the compliment. Then Adara took her into another room which was a bathroom. When Yuri saw the toilet she asked what it was used for. Adara didn't hesitate to tell her

"This is called a toilet and it's used for your business when you need to go." Yuri started blushing a little bit but nodded. Adara told her to use the flush button when she was done. Then she asked Adara about the shower. Adara told her

"That's a shower. It's used for cleaning yourself." She showed her how to use the hot and cold valves of the shower. Yuri was learning pretty fast. She took baths differently and didn't have any automatic devices. She nodded when she understood and asked more questions when she didn't now something. Once she finished showing her the sink for washing hands she led Yuri out and showed her a room that had a lot of clothes. There were costumes, masks, and uniforms.

"These are the outfits we wear for our dance classes." She showed the ballet outfit to Yuri.

Then she showed her some costumes "These are occasional outfits we wear when we have performances."

Yuri liked all the costumes. Then Adara took out a ballet uniform that was her size and gave it to Yuri.

"Thank you it's beautiful." Adara didn't want to show her the last room because it was filled with papers. She simply said

"The last room is my room. If you need anything you can find me in my room or in the dance studio doing some work." Then she laughed when she heard Yuri do a loud yawn

"Someone needs rest. I'll go get you some pajamas which are your sleeping clothes okay." She left Yuri alone for a second and came with her sleeping clothes. She told Yuri to go to her room and change into them. After Yuri finished changing she came outside and Adara came up to her and gave her a toothbrush.

"That's to keep your teeth healthy. Just brush your teeth back and forth and they will be cleaned. Then she handed her some toothpaste. Adara told her to use the bathroom to brush her teeth. After she finished she told her it was time for bed. Then she took her to her room and Yuri was tucked into bed. Then Yuri asked Adara

"Do I really have to do these things everyday in order to stay healthy?"

Adara told her "Yes it's important. But it's not really hard now or is it?"

Yuri smiled at her teasingly "Well after you lived the way I did with my teeth rotting, old clothes, freezing out at night in the stree.." Adara glared at her

"Alright I think I heard enough, at least I know what it means to be civilized, tomorrow we'll do some serious shopping, and about your hair" she thought thinking A nice hair cut would look nice. Yuri gave her an angry look

"Yuri quit glaring I wasn't going to shave your head off I just thought that A nice haircut would make you look nice." Yuri nodded her head saying

"But I like my hair. It gives me memories of my mother. She use to look like me and my father use to tease about getting his temper. I'm proud to have what my mother and father gave me." Yuri looked at Adara and saw her in tears. Then she whispered

"Oh Yuri I didn't know" Yuri started laughing. Adara glared back at her.

"Now you know" Yuri said with a smile. Adara grabbed a tissue from her pocket blowing her noise. Yuri giggled again.

"I guess that would of been wrong of me, Oh great Now I'm feeling guilty for ever mentioning it" Then she heard a loud snore come from Yuri. Adara laughed softly and raised the blankets on her. She left the room and turned out the light.

Mei-li is now called Yuri. I will use her name through out the rest of the story. Hope you review this chapter and don't get bored with it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's Chapter 4. Now Yuri's found a normal life with Adara? Let's see what happens from here. Once Again All Fushigi Yuugi characters belong to Yuu Watase. **

**Chapter 4**

Adara came in to check in on Yuri. It was 8:00 a.m. and Yuri was still asleep. Adara assumed she was very tired. There were so many things she didn't know about her. But she decided she wouldn't get into her personal life. Taking care of Yuri was the most important for Adara. Having lost her parents and sleeping outside in the streets, Adara wanted to give her a happy life. Yuri was moving in her sleep. Her face looked sad and pale. There was something strange about the way she was moving. You could almost see that she was trying to reach for something. Yuri was moving back and forth. Her hand went up in the air. Quickly Adara grabbed Yuri by the shoulders and was shaking her to wake her up. Yuri thought it was a monster trying to take away her parents. She was talking

"No! Don't take my parents. Mother, father, don't take them." Her voice grew softer and see could feel her own tears as they started dripping from her eyes. "Don't take them." Adara feared for Yuri. She thought she'd fainted.

"Yuri! Wake up. Can you hear me?" Immediately Yuri came out from her dream and opened her eyes really fast to see Adara's grasping her shoulders.

"Did you watch all of that?" Yuri asked Adara

"Yes I saw you. Are you feeling better? And also could you not scare me like that again. I thought you had fainted."

Yuri didn't mean to scare Adara but answered "Yeah I feel better. Sometimes I have dreams of my mother and father. Mostly they are bad dreams but sometimes I have good dreams about them." Adara soothingly said

"It's okay to tell me. I had the same dreams when I was your age. My parents died in a burning building. It was an accident. At first I wasn't sure if I couldn't go on. But since I know that crying over them wouldn't get me anywhere, I decided to move on. I got over their deaths but I always remember them." Yuri quickly hugged Adara

"What's this for?"

"For making me feel better." Yuri was hugging the life out of her. Adara couldn't breath and she said in a raspy voice

"Hey Yuri you can stop now I'm suffocating." Yuri quickly let go of her and apologized. Adara gave her a pat on the head. She got up and told Yuri about what they were going to do.

Adara left her alone in her room for a moment. She came back and brought a pair of nice clothes for Yuri. She brought her a purple shirt and a pair of jeans. They looked a bit big but it was a pretty close size. Yuri has never worn clothes like that but she took the clothes. Adara also told her to take a shower before trying the clothes. After Yuri finished her shower she was also given undergarments for her to wear under her purple shirt and jeans. When she finished she came out to show Adara. Adara looked her from head to toe. She was approving her appearance. Then she smiled at Yuri giving her thumbs up and told her

"On a scale of one through ten I will give you a one hundred" Yuri blushed a little bit while Adara was chuckling at her expression

"Can I also tie your hair with this black ribbon?" Yuri nodded and Adara grabbed her hair and tied her hair. Adara gave her a mirror to look in. Yuri looked at her self. She was surprised to see how much she could change when she wears something different and even when her hair and her strands are neatly in place.

"I have never worn clothes like these but they are very comfortable. I think I can get use to wearing these clothes everyday and I also like the way you did my hair." Adara was happy to hear that. Then she went into the kitchen to make breakfast for Yuri and herself. She made eggs with bacon and some pancakes. Yuri enjoyed the meal. Adara told Yuri to get ready to go shopping with her. They were on their way.

Adara was outside with Yuri and then she took her car keys out to open her Honda. Yuri got on the other side of the car and sat down. She was really comfortable and she started asking Adara about all the things inside the car. Once Yuri learned about all the parts she asked eagerly

"Can I drive your car?"

Adara answered "Sure you can but not right now. You're too young. When you turn seventeen maybe I'll let you drive.

Yuri then sounded a bit disappointed "Sure I can wait that long. These seats are really comfortable." Then she saw Adara turn on the radio. Yuri got startled when she heard people talking

"Are those real people inside that box?" Adara then reassured her

"Yes they are real people but they are not inside the box. They wouldn't be able to fit. They are just connections that we have thanks to the people that make it possible" She pointed to a big building where there was the station they were hearing. Yuri was amazed about the radio. She had her eyes opened everywhere Adara was driving. She saw a lot of big signs filled with advertisement. There was a theater that showed the most popular movies. They passed a performing arts center. Adara said that it might be possible they will be able to perform in there for their play of the Swan princess. She saw a lot of people walking on the streets. Then they passed by a school that had kids her age. They were all wearing uniforms. Adara noticed that Yuri was looking at all the kids

"Would you like to attend school Yuri?" she asked her while driving.

"Will I like it?" she asked unsure whether it would be fun to attend

"I won't try and convince you about going but you can learn how to speak another language, history, do math, and even do sports."

Yuri was interested at all the things she would learn. Speaking another language would be fun, history sounded boring but doing math sounded easy and she wanted to get involved in sports. Physical activities were things that Yuri was best at "Do you think I can start going tomorrow?"

Adara looked at her with smile "Of course you can. First I will enroll you. School is not just for learning, you will also make a lot of friends."

Yuri smiled and thought about all the friends she would have. They were silent for the rest of the trip. Once the mall got into view Yuri had an Oh expression on her face. The building was big and there were people coming in and out. Adara found a parking spot and then came out of the car. Yuri was following behind Adara. Adara knew Yuri was embarrassed by seeing all the people so she tried calming her down by saying

"It's okay Yuri, you look perfect. Nobody cares what you wearing."

Yuri felt better and went willingly inside the mall. When she went inside she saw a fountain, restaurants, electronic devices like the radio, clothes, and a lot of teenagers hanging out. Then Adara grabbed her hand and lead her to a nice store filled with a lot of nice clothes. They went to the girl's section. That's when Adara was teaching Yuri how to pick clothes. Yuri was having fun because she was mismatching and matching the clothes. Adara chose some new clothes for herself. When Yuri came out of the dressing room several times to show Adara she would give her thumbs up when she liked the outfit and thumbs down when she didn't like the outfit. Yuri's bags were filled with clothes. Adara paid for all the items. Yuri felt bad because she didn't have money

"I wish I could repay you for all of this."

"Think nothing of it. As long as you wear the clothes I'll be happy."

Yuri then smiled up at her and said "I'll wear the clothes." Once they finished buying their clothes they stopped by a pet store and saw puppies on the through the glass window. They went inside the pet shop and saw noisy birds, lizards, snakes, rats, hamsters, cats. Yuri was impressed at how many animals the shop had. She grabbed a baby kitten and thought it was cute. She thought the puppies were cute also. They would start barking at her and jumping up in down trying to lick her hand through the glass. When she saw the parrot Yuri started laughing when the parrot looked at Adara and said "Scary Lady, Scary lady" Adara was pretty mad but a moment later she started laughing too. The clerk of the store said "That's the insult parrot of the store. I had about two that came like that. It's partly my fault because I say things like that and they learn it pretty fast. One day a rich lady came in my store to look for an exotic animal. When she fell in love with a red parrot it told her Ugly lady, Ugly clothes. She was so pissed off that she slapped me and stormed out of the store." Yuri laughed at the story of the clerk. Adara understood now.

"So don't try and teach the birds to say those things or you won't have any girls looking for a pet bird and you will have to suffer with those birds. Who knows they might start insulting you." The clerk told her that already happened a few times. Adara ignored him as she was looking at her watch and said it was time to go.

"I wonder why the parrot didn't insult you." Adara said as she was trying to figure out a reason.

"Maybe because the parrot thought that pink doesn't go with you, I guess the parrot didn't get displeased with the colors I had on my clothes."

"How can a parrot know what color goes with me?"

"I don't think it goes with you. You should wear green next time. It goes with you eyes."

Adara liked that compliment. She thanked Yuri silently.

"Okay we wasted some time. Know I need to go to the music store to buy some CDs.

As soon as they left the pet store the music store came into view. Adara went inside to buy a few CDs.

"I will be using this music for my students when I start my classes" she explained "so I can teach them some new dancing steps to a different song I give them."

Then they stopped by a restaurant to eat something. Adara grabbed a menu and ordered a double cheeseburger with fries. Yuri didn't know how to use the menu so she told the waitress to give her the same thing Adara was ordering. Yuri like the taste of this new food she was trying. But she missed going fishing and buying meat from outside the small stores she was used to. Adara noticed Yuri was staring outside at nothing even though she was looking at the people

"What are you thinking of?"

"I'm just thinking of all the places we went to. I'm having a great time. I also have something to ask you Adara?"

Adara was a bit nervous when she saw Yuri's face changing

"Do you now where we can get more of that tasty dessert you call ice cream?"

Adara let her breath out and was relived when she thought Yuri was going to tell her something had been bothering her. Adara smiled at her and said

"Sure there a lot of Ice Cream places we can go to." With that they both got up looking for an ice cream bar.

After they walked out of the Mall finishing their Ice cream Yuri said

"I had the time of my life in there. Thank you for showing me this place."

"You're welcome Yuri." Then they got in the car and Adara drove of to where her apartment was.

Once they were home Yuri went to her room right away while Adara was in the dance studio preparing her studio for her classes tomorrow. It didn't take long at all to get Yuri to all the places she was taken to. Adara thought that it would take Yuri weeks and months but it only took a day for Yuri to like everything about Tokyo. She was also amazed that Yuri wanted to attend school. She couldn't wait to see her all grown up and graduating from high school to see her attend college. But she didn't want her growing that fast. It's only been a whole day and Adara has gotten attach to the kid. As she was taking out all the boards and her radio she was also thinking how much fun it will be having Yuri around. She didn't know where that enthusiasm came from but she was proud that Yuri would be joining her dancing classes. She opened her uniform closet and started taking out the ballet uniforms from the box and placing them one by one inside the closet. Setting up the studio was the easy part. Painting, fixing the lights, and the whole floor was the hard part. She gave a smile of satisfaction and a tired look at the same time. The studio was ready for tomorrow.

Yuri was in her bedroom looking at her mother's necklace and her father's blue stone. Then she took out the medallion that Taiits-kun has given her. She was thinking that once she was seventeen she would have to leave this world. She was already getting attach to this place and didn't want to leave especially Adara. She had become great friends with Adara. She knew Adara cared for her like a daughter and was afraid to hurt her when she left. But she knew that this was part of her destiny so she wouldn't deny it no matter how difficult it was for her. She carefully put the medallion in her personal bag, including her mother's necklace and father's stone. But she would enjoy as much of it as she could. Six years was a long time.

2 years later……

13 year old Yuri came running inside Adara's apartment. Adara didn't have time to see Yuri because she had shut the door. She knew what happened to her. She knocked on the door but no response came.

"Yuri?" silence answered her "Yuri open this door right now!" She heard Yuri's footsteps but she slowly opened the door.

What she saw didn't surprise her. Yuri had bruises on her legs. Her school uniform had been stained with blood. Her right arm was still bleeding. Her face was fallen. Adara didn't say anything. She placed Yuri on the bed while she came and got her medical kit to fix her wounds. As Adara was helping Yuri with her wounds nothing came out from her. Adara hated seeing Yuri like this. But she had enough courage to ask her

"Yuri did that girl beat you again?" she waited for Yuri to answer but she didn't say anything. Adara narrowed her eyes at Yuri and grabbed her arms to turn her around

"Will you at least say yes to me? I can't have you stay like this forever. Either you tell me what happen or I will have to go to the school and fix it."

Yuri immediately responded "There's nothing you can do. I got into a fight with Sari after school. During fourth period in my history class she was throwing papers at me. I didn't do anything to her. That's when during lunch she threw food in my uniform. Then after school she got mad because I didn't respond to her little games. But she got me riled up when she made a comment about you. She gave me an evil smirk. That's when I attacked her. I was so mad at her that I couldn't stop. I didn't win her because the principal caught me and took me to his office."

Flashback

"Yuri! This is the first time this year I have caught you beating a student. I always thought you were one of the good students. I don't know what caused it but if I catch you beating any other student I am going to have to expel you. No questions." He gave her a look of disgust. But he didn't know that this has happened everyday since the first day of school. I guess he caught them by luck.

Yuri was so upset she could barely control herself "How can you not believe me. That girl has picked on me since last year. I have let her escape to many times. But hearing her say a filthy comment about Adara, I won't put up with that." Mr. Sahiru didn't care

"Listen young lady. I won't have that kind of behavior in my school. You will stop. But for now your punishment will be to have detention for a week."

Yuri was mad at this punishment. That's when the principal dismissed her. Shutting the door behind her she quickly ran outside the school when she saw that girl Sari outside with her friends.

Sari said from far away "So Yuri did you come back for more? I wasn't expecting you to survive Mr. Sahiru's punishments. Now come here so I could beat the life out of you." That's when Yuri gave her a look of hatred and instead of facing her she turned around and started running away. Sari quickly started running of after her. They wondered out of the school grounds and went to an Alley. Yuri realized she had trapped herself. Looking at the wall she heard Sari coming. When Yuri turned around she got punched in the face. Blood came out from her mouth. Yuri brushed of the blood from her hand and started attacking Sari. Sari locked her arms and started twisting them. Yuri winced at the pain and tried to move as far from her so she could free herself. Yuri almost lost hope when she felt strength that started growing inside. It was a strange feeling but she managed to raise her foot and kicked Sari in the knee with great force. Groaning with pain she kneeled down and raised her head slowly to see that Yuri had disappeared.

"Just wait till I get you next time!" she growled

Yuri was on top of an apartment building sitting on the edge of the building. Dislodging herself from Sari was one thing but jumping high in the air and landing on top of the building was another matter. She thought she was flying. It had to be magic but Yuri couldn't see that possibility. "Maybe it's a natural talent" she thought as she closed her eyes and felt the wind hitting her. After she had calmed herself she left the apartment building.

End of Flashback

"Now I have a week of detention just because Miss making my life miserable couldn't even keep her mouth shut about you."

Adara was proud that Yuri had defended her but instead she said "Thanks for defending me but you have to stop these fights. You should try and solve it another way."

Yuri thought that impossible "There's no other way. She taunts me and expects me to fight her and she wins. She gets to fight me, she gets away with it, and she doesn't even get blamed for her own actions."

Adara looked at her with despair but some teasing "That's not the Yuri I knew before. You stood up to those boys and saved Han. If you can beat a couple of bullies then I am sure you can teach Sari a lesson. I'm not saying that you should fight her. Just know that it's going to go worse for her and she will get a punishment once she is caught with was she is doing to you."

"I guess you got me with that." Yuri knew she had to solve this matter. Adara knew for a way to cheer her up

"You know Yuri when the boys saw you coming in the school the first day they couldn't take their eyes of you. If I am right I think Sari is jealous of you because you're getting more attention than her. You may not think so but I saw some boys staring at you the other day you came walking home. I notice you were talking to them."

Yuri smiled a little bit "Is that suppose to cheer me up? The only reason those boys came up to me is because they needed help with their homework. Since I am the nerd of the class they always do that. Well I guess everything can't be perfect but I will find a way to stop Sairi's tantrums. Thanks for putting some sense in to me. I know what I will do tomorrow."

"Don't forget that we have to perform for the sick children at the hospital tomorrow." Adara had almost forgotten that they had a performance to do.

With that Yuri nodded and was left alone in her room. But there was one thing that made Yuri happy. Dancing for other people made her proud that she can bring smiles and tears. She also made a lot of good friends her first day of dancing classes. "At least I got one thing that's going right" she smiled as she thought of that. Her smile grew wider when she remembered Han was trying to tip toe. Trying to do a ballet performance was hard to do. He tried balancing himself but he kept on falling off when he wanted to do a spin. After Yuri had seen for the hundredth time that Han fell down she saw how frustrated he was. She had worked with him for 1 hour when he finally managed to balance himself. While Adara was busy with some other things Yuri would be the teacher for all the students. Stretching exercises would be the first thing they did when classes started. The best part for Yuri was when they put on their costumes for rehearsals they were doing for a special performance in the performing arts center. They would perform in parks, malls, community centers, and for theaters. Their main types of dances they would do are ballet, hip hop dancing, or classical plays like "the swan princess" that had ballet and acting. That was her most favorite play that she had done. When she was chosen to do the swan princess Yuri was overjoyed. Han was chosen to do the prince. After a few weeks of practice she was ready to do the play. Yuri flew of the stage and the crowd from the theatre watched in wonder at every single movement that Yuri made. The play took 2 hours. When Yuri finished her performance she was applauded by her audience. Han had practice hard too and did a great job. Adara had hugged her and her friends ran over to her surrounding her into a group hug. She's had such a wonderful friendship with all the students. Some of the girls went to the same school she goes to. After Yuri finished her homework Adara called her for dinner. Yuri quickly said "Alright" as she got up and left her room.

After having dinner it was time for bed. Yuri quickly changed into her pajamas and got in her bed. There was fear in Yuri's eyes when she thought of the dreams she had about a week ago. She dreamed that Taiits-kun had come to her and was telling her to come to her and prepare for the worst to come. That meant that something terrible was going to happen. Yuri didn't know when but she promised Taiits-kun she would come back to Konan and go on an important mission. She was still mad at Taiits-kun for not telling her about what would happen. Ignoring that she went into a dreamless sleep knowing there were other things she needed to take care of.

Morning came and Yuri woke up to start school. Her days always started the same. Ever since she started her first day of school Sari has never left her alone. But today Yuri had the feeling that something good was going to happen. Yuri had finished her breakfast and quickly hugged Adara and left the apartment. As she was walking to school she saw Han on the other side of the street. He waited for her and Yuri crossed the street when the light turned green. After she crossed the street Han greeted her and they started walking together. Although Han was 3 years younger than Yuri they went to the same school.

"So Yuri how are things going?"

"Fine Han, everything is fine." Han knew that look and he didn't believe Yuri. He's seen Yuri get beaten by that Sari girl. It infuriated Han to see Yuri suffer all of Sari's games. Today something would be done about it. He was prepared after all. He brought a camera with him. Although he was not allowed he would do anything to help Yuri out. If the principal didn't believe Yuri then Han would gather evidence by video taping Sari and prove that she's guilty. Han's grin was only growing wider thinking of how the teacher's and principal would react when they see Sari.

"What's the happy face about?" Han snapped out of it

"Nothing Yuri." She didn't suspect a thing. Phew that was close he thought. If she would have asked he would hesitate with his answers and find out that he is lying.

When they entered the school gates they separated and waved. Yuri went to her first period class which was French. She really loved that class. Except that Sari would be there throwing papers at her, spitting at her with a straw, putting needles on her seat. She entered her class and saw Sari was waiting for her. But all the students were already seated. The teacher was already in the class writing down in the chalk board some new French phrases.

"Yuri I've been waiting for you. I thought you were going to skip your classes today." She gave her a sweet smile.

"Why would I want to skip my classes? It's a great day today." Sari's smiled vanished and turned into a hateful look. She whispered into her ear

"It won't be a great day once I get through with you."

"I'll be looking forward to it." Yuri smiled back at Sari. Sari hated that answer. Maybe saying something bad about Adara would rile her up just like that time when the principal caught them. The teacher turned around and told everyone to sit down. Yuri and Sari sat down. Sitting in front of Sari was really hell for Yuri.

Meanwhile…….

Han was sitting on his desk making paper airplanes to hit the substitute. Having a grumpy old lady was fun for Han. One of Han's friends had accidentally thrown a rock on her glasses. She was teaching the class without them right now. Everything that she was writing on the chalk board wasn't even words. It was hard to understand what she was writing. Sari would plan to do anything at any time so he had to watch out from the door if he would see Sari doing anything suspicious. Uh oh Sari was already passing his class. He quickly started for the door but decided to throw the paper airplane. It hit the substitute in the fore head.

"Who threw that? Come on speak up. If you don't tell me then I'll give you some more work to do." Nobody said anything "Fine then I'll have to find some work for you." One of the boys from the class switched the papers with the substitute. Instead of giving them an essay she accidentally gave them all a stack of hall passes to pick up." All the students started laughing but they decided to pretend and do their work but bug the substitute at the same time. Han just burst with laughter. Then he ran to see what Sari was up to.

Yuri was glad that Sari was gone for the moment. She had asked to go to the restroom. But it's been already 20 minutes. Whatever was she up to Yuri wondered. She also noticed that Sari had taken her back pack. Something bad is going to happen. Yuri knew she wasn't going to like it. After the teacher gave them their homework the bell rung and period was over. She went to her second, third and fourth class.

Lunch Break

All the students were mad and protesting to the lunch lady. The lunch lady was trying to reason with them

"Everyone Listen! We can't serve you lunch right now. Someone has stolen our food supplies and we can't make the food right now."

Yuri was sitting at the lunch table with Han and her friends from dancing class Erein, Serin, and twin sisters Kiana and Kuana.

"Why is all the food gone?" asked Erein

"Who knows" answered Serin

"Maybe the FBI came and found out that the made the food out of left overs. I heard few kids have gotten sick from the food they give here and they had to stay home for 4 days. That's why I bring my own lunch everyday." Said Kiana

"Don't be silly Kiana" said Kuana "The FBI wouldn't get involved in the case of the missing food and I think what they serve is good."

"Is not" Kiana said

"Is too" answered Kuana

"Is not"

"Is too"

"Is not"

"Is too"

"Is……

Serin was annoyed already "Shut up! You two can seriously get on everyone's hair."

Yuri was laughing "You guys have great imagination, but we don't know what really happened to all the food. Who could've taken it?"

Han remained quiet pretending not to listen to the girl's conversation.

After the girls finished with their conversation Yuri left the girls to go to the restroom. Han told the girls that he had some class work to finish. Damm! He thought the girl's restroom how was he going to sneak in to see if Sari was there. After a moment he was hiding quickly because Sari passed by. He saw that he was following Yuri inside the restroom. He quickly thought of an idea and knew that there were windows in the restroom. He ran outside the school and ran to the other side of the building. He saw that the girl's window was above. How am I going to get up there? He thought as he looked at the window. Luckily he saw a ladder that wasn't being used by anyone. Maybe the Janitor left it. Han grabbed the ladder and placed on the girl's restroom window. When he climbed he saw that Yuri wasn't there. About a few seconds passed and he saw Yuri entered. If Sari came in he would quickly use his camera. Yuri was looking in the mirror. Tears came out from her eyes and Han didn't know why Yuri was crying. Just then Sari opened the door. Her friends were there too giving evil smiles as they stared at Yuri.

"Yuri, I'm surprise to see you here crying. I thought you were having a great day. Is it over so soon?" her friends laughed.

Han wasn't able to be seen so he grabbed his camera and started recording.

Yuri answered "Actually my great day is just beginning. I just needed to be alone for a little bit."

"Do you know why we are here Yuri?" Sari asked her

"I don't have a clue." Answered Yuri

"Maybe I should demonstrate." Sari and her friends were opening the restroom floor. They manage to take out a lot of bags filled with food supplies. She took out some eggs and grabbed a slingshot.

"You stole all those food supplies I should of known" Yuri was shocked and angry at the same time. These girls wouldn't give up on getting rid of her.

"Once all this food is thrown on you the principal will see and he will think you stole all the food and starved all the kids out there that are angry right now. Everyone will hate you and I will be given the credit for finding you with all this food that was missing. It would pain Adara to know that."

"Adara will believe that I'm innocent. I won't let get away with this."

"I think I already did. Girls Attack!" they grabbed their slingshots and started throwing eggs and Yuri. Dropping on the ground Yuri managed to miss the eggs. So far her uniform was cleaned. Sari grabbed more eggs and kept on shooting at Yuri. One of the eggs landed on Yuri hair. Having 5 girls throwing eggs at her was hard to avoid. Yuri ran towards them and she grabbed some flour and threw it at Sari. She spit and coughed. All the girls surrounded Yuri and grabbed her trying not to let her get Sari. She was trapped and there was nothing she could do about it. Struggling and trying to release her self it was hopeless. Yuri was placed in front of Sari. She grabbed her slingshot and started throwing eggs at Yuri. Landing on her uniform on her legs they were thrown at a fast speed. It hurt Yuri. Her head was brought down. Sari grabbed the flour and brought down on Yuri. She was filled with powder. The assistant principal opened the door quickly.

"What's going on in here?" Sari quickly started crying

"Mrs. Ishikawa this girl stole all the food from the cafeteria and she was throwing it at me. I tried stopping her by throwing it back at her and she was attacking my friends with eggs."

Mrs. Ishikawa believed what Sari had said "Don't worry Sari I will take this bad girl to the principal's office. At least we know who took it. Come Yuri I will see what Mr. Sahiru wants to do with you." She was angry at Yuri. Yuri quickly nodded and was taking out of the girl's restroom. There was no way Yuri could win against Sari. All the teachers thought she was Sweet and Innocent.

Han stopped his camera and quickly ran back going inside the school.

Principal's Office

Mr. Sahiru's anger was uncontrollable. "Yuri Because of you the cafeteria has to waste more money on food supplies. I have no choice but to expel you."

Yuri didn't say anything. She was too angry to even talk to him. Mr. Sahiru grabbed some papers officially transferring Yuri to another school. He signed the papers and gave them to Yuri.

"Take this home to your guardian." He didn't say anything more to Yuri. That's when Han quickly ran inside the room falling on the ground.

"Young man, you're not allowed in here. Get out."

"Han, what are you doing here?" Yuri was surprised to see Han inside the office.

Han got up and rearrange the collar in his uniform. He told the principal

"I have proof that Yuri is innocent." He took out a video tape and showed to Mr. Sahiru.

"This had better not be a trick. I will watch it but you can't change my mind about bringing Yuri back in to the school." The principal place the video in another room where there was a TV.

"Han it's too late to help me out." Yuri wasn't crying but she was upset.

"Trust me Yuri everything will go fine." After 10 minutes the principal came out slowly sitting in his desk. He had his eyes closed and turned his chair around to look out the window. About 2 minutes later the principal turned around and said

"Yuri could you give me those papers" she gave them to him and he ripped the papers and threw them in the trash.

Yuri was surprised to see that the principal ripped the papers.

Han was smiling. The principal had explained to Yuri that he had seen Sari in the cafeteria taking out all the food supplies and placing them under the floors of the restroom. He saw how Sari attacked Yuri with food.

"Sari and her friends will be removed from this school. I am glad you showed me the video young man or else your friend could've been gone. I won't punish you for bringing the camera but don't bring to school anymore or else I'll have to do something about it. You two can leave now." They were dismissed and when they left the office Yuri embraced Han tightly.

"Oh Han thank you."

"Hey now we are even. You helped me with those bullies and I guess I saved you from getting expelled."

Han had flour on his uniform and some egg yolk. Yuri laughed.

"Both of us need to be cleaned. I can't stand smelling like rotten egg." They only had 2 periods to go.

Yuri ran home into Adara's apartment. She was a total mess. There was flour and eggs in her uniform. Outside the room she could hear Adara knocking on her door. Yuri quickly dressed into a black shirt and a pair of jeans. Quickly she opened the door for Adara. However Adara ran to Yuri hugging her and checking to see if her bones were broken as always.

"Hey what's wrong Adara? You're hurting Me." Realizing she was squeezing Yuri she let go.

"I thought for a moment something really bad happened to you. Did something happen?" she stopped when she saw Yuri's uniform was dirty. "Tell me everything."

"It was the worst and best day of my life Adara." Adara was puzzled when she told her that.

"Just explain to me what happened." Yuri told her everything from the how she got the stains on her uniform to Han's evidence of her innocence and the reaction when the principal saw the video and gave Sari and her friends her punishment. She enjoyed telling her everything.

"Yuri I'm so happy for you. After all you went through I think we should go out and celebrate. Maybe a quick lesson of dance and we'll go eat outside. Let's invite Han too."

"Don't forget Erein, Serin, Kiana and Kuana."

"Okay Yuri we'll invite them too."

Yuri had never been so happy in her life. Not because Sari was removed from the school but because she had the support of friends who loved her, including Adara. Everything that she thought was going down became a wonderful reality. Sari got what she deserved and thanks to Han Yuri was able to go on with her life. She was almost losing hope each and every day.

Adara and Yuri were dressed in their uniforms. Adara picked up the phone and had called Serin, Erein, Kiana, Kuana, and Han telling them that they would be doing a dance lesson in the park. They were eager to go there and agreed to meet at 4 p.m. grabbing their things Yuri and Adara left the apartment ready to end the rest of the day.

**What you think? Pretty long huh? Yuri had a few obstacles to pass in order to survive in life and deal with problems. Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 ready to go. **

**Chapter 5**

_Somewhere in Mt. Rekaku_

TheNeshou Bandits were running away from a burning building. They managed to get the owner of the shop tied up stealing all of his money and burning the building to hide all the evidence. The Neshou Bandits were going back to their base in Mt. Hoku.

37 year old bandit leader Shan-lou had made a successful escape without letting citizens from Rekaku notice what they did. He smiled in satisfaction. He ordered his men where they would be attacking next. Since it was already close to dawn they decided to go back to there place and rest since some of Shan's men were injured due to the angry owner of the shop that used his knife and some of the bandits from Mt. Rekaku that had interfered.

_In Mt. Hoku_

The Neshou bandits neared Mt. Hoku and they were warned out. They got closer to their hide out which was covered by trees. But the house was big enough to fit a lot of people. Although citizens in Mt. Hoku didn't know so they assumed someone wealthy lived in there. But other people made up different rumors about them. As they entered inside Shan's men went to get some supplies to heal the wounds from the others. Shan retired to his own room. Inside his room he was in deep thought thinking of where to strike next. He was a bit disappointed though because those Leikaku bandits had interfered. When they had burned the building and killed the owner inside one of the leikaku bandits managed to find out about them and their plans of attack they did everynight. They barely met and are already at war with each other.

Then a little girl of 11 years appeared on his mind also. He was surprised when this happened. Killing Bao-zhi had been great pleasure for Shan. It was his fault anyways. Shan was betrayed by Bao-zhi when he found that he was in love with Ai-mu. It enraged him to know that Bao-zhi had claimed her and give up being a bandit just for her. Staying with the Neshou Bandits since he was 15 and leaving them just for a woman was being a fool as Shan thought. In his mind women serve only to bring pleasure. It's been 6 years since he saw Mei-li, remembering her threat and the hatred in her eyes was something that Shan wouldn't forget. Seeing her again would be pleasing for Shan. Let's see how little Mei-li will come back and get even with me. Laughing maniacally to himself he left his room and went to the other bandits. The Owner of the restaurant didn't have that much money left but it was enough to keep the bandits happy. After thinking of Mei-li he left his room to see what tell his men about their new plan of attack in order to stop those Bandits from Mt. Rekaku.

_Yuri's Bedroom_

"Taiits-kun!" wait I need you to tell me more." Yuri was trying to reach Taiits-kun eager to know more about this new dark force that was coming.

"I can't tell you more than that. As soon as you get back to Konan I will tell you what to do. Take care Mei-li." She started fading into a bright light leaving Yuri standing there with some disappointment in her eyes. Then she started disappearing too. Fading away into something dark she passed out. A mysterious dark liquid was trying to take over her body. Yuri screamed and was running as fast as she could. Why is this monster following me and trying to engulf me? She wondered. More of her body was disappearing. No! Stop it! Leave me alone. Yuri was waving her arms back and forth trying to make the dark shadow go away. Too late in realizing she approached a cliff and fell down falling into nothing.

Waking up from her nightmare Yuri jumped from the bed. Her eyes wide opened she turned around to see where she was. Well after a dream like that it's hard to go back into realization. Yuri got up and went to the bathroom to wash her face with water. Taiits-kun had told her something about Konan being in terrible danger. Why would her country be in danger? Something isn't right. As annoyed as she was that day she was 11 years old when she met Taiits-kun Yuri knew that it was the time to know about this danger that lies ahead. After feeling better with the water in her face she went back to her bedroom to sleep some more.

Morning was here and Yuri was still sound asleep. It had been a rough day yesterday helping Adara out in the dance studio with the new students. About 2 boys had joined and there were 14 girls. Yuri was also happy that she was going to high school with Serin, Erein, Kiana and Kuana. Passing the entrance exam had been a hard challenge. But she made it. They were all glad when they passed there entrance exams with high scores.

It was pass 9 a.m. and Yuri finally woke up. Finding a blue shirt and a black skirt she woke up and left the room. She made her way across Adara's room to wake her up. When she opened the door the room was empty. She looked for her everywhere but she was nowhere to be found. Where could Adara be? Maybe she is in the dance studio. Yuri took the elevator to go down. There was some noise coming from the studio.

Inside the dance studio Adara was quickly telling Erein to turn off the lights. Kiana and Kuana placed their ears on the door. They heard some footsteps.

"Guys I think she's coming." Kiana said

Adara was hiding behind the stage of the studio where there were some curtains. Erein and Serin went in front of the door grabbing some silly string to place on Yuri. Kiana and Kuana couldn't stop giggling. Serin glared at them in the dark. Kiana quickly covered Kuana's mouth. Kuana was doing the same to Kiana. They could even smell Serin's anger from far away. They remained silent. Once Yuri opened the door Erein turned on the lights and Serin sprayed silly string on Yuri. Erein quickly ran to Yuri and gave her a hug. Kiana and Kuana ran and moved Erein out of the way to hug Yuri also. Erein almost lost her balanced but laughed when they saw the twins hugging Yuri.

"Happy Birthday Yuri" Adara came out with a present in her hands. Yuri was still in the twin's embrace. Kiana and Kuana let go of Yuri so she could receive a hug from Adara. Yuri was in tears with this surprise. It was also surprising that this was her 6th anniversary in this world. Being 17th years old was great for Yuri. She had grown up to be a beautiful young woman. Her black hair had gotten longer and had more shine. Her eyes were like flashing sapphires. And her heart shaped face was perfectly formed. Her body had also developed too. She had matured. Her birthday had passed but this is the day that Adara remembered the most because it was day she had met Yuri and had taken her to live with her. Raising Yuri had been a wonderful experience for Adara. After Yuri had wiped her tears she said

"This is the nicest surprise ever, you guys made me cry too"

"Open your present Yuri" Adara said

"Open it, Open it!" Kiana and Kuana said

Yuri opened it and saw a beautiful necklace made of gold with her name printed on it. It also had lilies around the whole necklace.

"Oh Adara" Yuri hugged Adara again.

"Alright are you guys going to be hugging all day or are we going to eat some cake." Serin said

Yuri was more than ready "Yeah. I can't wait to try it."

Erein went to the table to cut some cake for everyone. Then from the entrance of the studio came out 14-year old Han. He had grown into a handsome guy. There was a teasing look in his eyes

"Hey guys you weren't thinking of having cake without me?"

Yuri was happy to see Han "Hi Han, I'm so glad you came."

"Your late Han what took you so long?" asked Serin

"Oh sorry I had a lot of things to take care of. First there was this lady that wouldn't stop fussing over the gift a bought for you. Why are girls so picky with gifts?" Erein started laughing

"Han that's not true, we girls like to do our best in giving out the perfect gift for a birthday."

Rolling his eyes he said "I can believe you when you use the word perfect, anyways Yuri here's your gift. He handed a neatly wrapped gift with a pink bow.

Yuri opened it and saw a little statue doll that had the name Yuri on it. It was a gold figure with an arrow pointing at something. It was a beautiful little statue doll and Yuri showed appreciation in her eyes as she told Han

"Han, this is such a beautiful statue."

Han came forward Yuri to embrace her tightly "Happy Birthday Yuri."

"Now that Han is here, let's have some cake now." Yuri said as she gave the first slice to Han. Everyone thought the cake was delicious. They started celebrating with some wine and they had the greatest time. After Adara finished laughing with Erein on a joke she had said they realized that the balloons that were attached on the tables had been released and reach up the wall. Yuri volunteered on getting the balloons down. She jumped high in the air and managed to get the balloons down. Serin had her mouth open when she saw how high Yuri could jump.

"How on earth did you jump that high?" Yuri looked at Serin

"It's something I had since I was little. I could jump into a lot of places. But that's another story."

Adara looked at her with pride "She gets better and better everyday." Kiana and Kuana were impressed too

"I wish I could jump as high as you Yuri. Maybe I will"

"There's no way you can jump that high. Once I saw you trying to reach for a CD in the shelf and you couldn't even reach it." Said Kuana

"That's because I was tired." Said Kiana glaring

"You liar" said Kuana

"You're the liar"

"You are"

"You are"

"You are" Serin was already tired of hearing them

"Okay! Both of you are liars. Now shut up!" Erein thought it was funny every time Serin got mad at Kiana and Kuana.

"You guys have been the same ever since we met you. I'm glad that things never change between you."

"You won't be glad one of these days when they see how angry I can really get. But Kiana and Kuana are like my sisters. I mean that's what sisters do they argue. Maybe that's why I love them so much."

Erein was glad to hear that. Now that the twins stopped arguing they decided to go and dress in their uniforms because there was a quick dancing lesson that Adara had prepared. But in their free time they all enjoyed having a quick dance lesson before they had to go home. Once everyone finished tying up the balloons they dressed up in their uniforms for the quick dance lesson. After warned out from all the dancing the Erein told Adara and Yuri that her parents wanted her home for some help. Kiana and Kuana said they promised their dad they would go out and do some community service for school. Serin was the last in going.

"Once again Adara and Yuri dancing with you is a sensation. Sorry we all had to go but we have a busy Saturday today. Today I have a softball game against some students from Yokohama. I heard the girls in from that city are tough. I need to go to school so I could practice. The game starts at 4:00. See you later guys." She quickly ran out the door.

"I guess it was a busy Saturday today but we at least we could spend 3 hours together. It's a good thing I woke up early them." Yuri said as she smiled.

"I'm glad you had a good time Yuri. Now that the fun is over I need you to go to the store for me and get me the groceries. I need to be here and set up the dance studio for my new students."

"Sure Adara. Just give me the list." As soon as she got the list from Adara she went outside of the apartment and got on Adara's red Honda and drove away to the supermarket. Yuri could handle the car well. Passing her driving test had been easy. As she made a right turn to the entrance she saw a girl with red hair running in front of her she quickly stopped the car and honked. Where was the girl? Oh god I think I crushed her. Yuri quickly stepped out of the car and saw that the girl had ducked and closed her eyes.

"You can stop ducking your okay." The girl opened her eyes to see a blacked hair teenage girl staring at her with concern and some amusement.

"I almost thought I was gone. At least you stopped in time. I'm sorry about that it was my fault for being in such a hurry." The girl wore in an apologetic expression in her face but it looked like something was bothering her. Yuri could see it in her eyes.

"I'm sorry also. By the way what's bothering you?" the girl hesitated to tell her but she said in a shaky but calm voice

"I'm in a Hurry to help out some friends of mine. They are in big trouble. I need to go back into that book and help them." She was laughing "I didn't mean to say book Uh…. How silly. They actually need my help on a project we are working in school." She didn't want to talk more but Yuri understood

"Well don't waste your time telling me go and help them out." She was grateful that she wouldn't ask her anymore questions. As she was running she turned around quickly and yelled from far away. "By the way my name is Miaka."

"My name is Yuri. Don't forget it."

Miaka smiled at her and turned around to run really fast. She was caring a lot of food and trying to balance her bags while running. Something was wrong with her. The girl thinks she fooled her with that lie. Yuri knew there was something more than just having a few friends in trouble. What is she really up to? And what did she mean when she had to go back into a book? Other cars were now beeping at her because she was blocking the entrance of the store.

"Hey move it this isn't a parking zone" said a woman driver

"Quit standing and move your car" said a man

"Move your ass" said a pissed off man

She looked at the cars behind her and quickly got back in the car to park and went to get the groceries for Adara.

**Yay! I finally entered Miaka. Dying to find out what happens. Scroll down to chapter 6 and find out. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Yes Chapter 6 finally in place. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6**

Yuri was driving home from the grocery store. After that little incident with that girl Yuri couldn't get her mind of what the girl was told her. What did she mean when she said she needed to go back inside a book? Could it be what Taiits-kun told her is true? Other worlds are being connected with this one. Maybe that book that the girl mentioned was somehow connected to this world. She was thinking also of when she would go back to Konan. What would Taiits-kun do when she saw her? Yuri was hoping for Taiits-kun to tell her everything. Thinking about it was getting her more stressed. "Maybe I should be thinking more on my school work." Yuri thought as she approached Adara's apartment.

Meeting Adara inside her apartment she brought the groceries and placed them on the kitchen.

"Hi Yuri." Yuri only nodded to her.

"What's wrong?" Adara was somewhat worried that Yuri was quiet.

"Nothing." Responded Yuri "Just thinking a lot. I'll be in my room." She left to her room.

Going inside Yuri lay on the bed looking on the window. Looking inside her cabinet she took out her little bag where she had her important items. First she took out her mother's sapphire necklace and she smiled at it. Then she took out the blue stone that her father had made for her since she was born. The blue stone made her cry a little. She hated crying. Yuri also found inside her bag the medallion that Taiits-kun had given her. There's no sign that she was being called. All she saw was her reflection. She saw her tears falling on the mirror. Leaving her friends and Adara would be horrible for her. Hurting Adara is what scared Yuri the most. What if she grows to hate me? Yuri thought. I have to leave back to my country though. But why do I have to leave right now? I'm going to miss you Adara, Serin, Erein, Kiana, Kuana, and Han.

"Yuri! Dinner is ready." Yuri stopped her thoughts when she heard Adara. Yuri said she would be there. As soon as she finished thinking over what Taiits-kun would do she carefully placed her mother's sapphire necklace and father's blue stone inside the bag. She looked at the mirror once more wondering when it would glow in front of her. Yuri would lose her friends but she would go back to the country she has missed. Leaving the room behind her she let her thoughts go over her homework.

Yuri had helped make Adara with some techniques on making the food taste better. Adara thought Yuri was a great cook.

"Where do you get all your cooking skills from?" Adara was curious

"From my mother." Yuri answered "She was a great cook and she taught me a lot."

"Yuri you seemed quiet a while ago are you sure nothing is wrong with you?"

"I'm sure Adara." Adara was trying to make sure but she nodded at her

"Alright Yuri, Hey since everyone is busy why don't we go to the beach and surf." Mentioning the beach Yuri said excitingly

"That's a great idea. Let me get my surfing board." Surfing was also one of Yuri's favorite activities.

As soon as Adara got the board they were ready. Getting out from the apartment Adara got in the driving seat of the car.

"Can I be the driver?" asked Yuri

"Fine but I want to drive us home." Nodding Yuri got on the car and drove away to the beach.

_Mt. Leikaku_

1 week has gone by since they last saw the Neshou Bandits. Inside their hide out the Reikaku bandits had made their successful escape from the Neshou bandits. Thanks to them the citizens now thought they were murderers. Ever since they saw that burning building they were filled with rage because they had dared to kill someone innocent. I mean the Reikaku bandits did do stuff like steal and fight but they wouldn't try and kill an innocent person that has nothing to do with anything. That's just how they worked. Now that the Neshou bandits were loose the Mt. Leikaku bandits had plans of action on what they should do about them. One of the brown haired men was furious

"I can't believe those idiots got away with murder? Just wait till I get my hands on the Neshou leader and He'll be sorry." A grey haired man sat next to him to calm his rage.

"Just calm down Hansu. It's not in your place to go of by yourself. We're going to need a team of men to handle those bandits."

"I wish we could go there right now." Said a bandit

"Nah you should wait for Genrou to order. Besides I'm starving." Said another bandit sitting in the corner of a table

"That's right you should wait." A red haired amber eyed man appeared in front of his men. He was about 17 and he had jewelry on his ears and neck. He was wearing a blue coat with beige pants and black boots. He was smiling but not in a laughable way. There was also fierce in his eyes every time he heard about the Neshou Bandits.

"Boss!" all the men cried

"You guys are right though we should pay those idiots a visit." After picking a fight with Shan he had been pissed off because he got away. He still had his arm severally wounded from the knife that sliced through his arm thank to Shan. He managed to place a bandage on it.

"How's your arm Genrou?" asked Hansu

"Fine" he said simply

"Pass me some sake. I can use a little relaxing." The grey haired bandit passed him some sake and Genrou started drinking lightly. The grey haired man said

"By the way where did Koji go?"

"I send him out to do some spying on those Neshou Bandits" said Genrou

"Let's hope they haven't caught him yet" said Hansu

"Quit fussing! You know Koji can take care of himself. But I'm so glad we got to injure some of his men. The look on their faces was priceless when they ran off." Genrou thought it was amusing that the Neshou bandits had been scared of him. Because of his fan that is. His fan the Tessen could burn a lot of things. He even scared his own men every time he took it out. But Genrou was not the sort of man that would kill someone right away.

After he finished his first drink he declared "Listen up this is what we'll do. Hansu and Kedorikku will give us the signal when the coast is clear through the entrance of the Neshou Bandit's Hideout." Meanwhile he pointed at other men and gave them jobs on watching out for the bandits that are guarding other parts of their hideout. "While Koji and I get inside we will find Shan and surround him. We will have him. It will teach him not to mess with the Leikaku Bandits. They won't expect the attack so make sure to stay as secretive as possible."

"Sounds good to me" said Kedorikku

"Can't wait to get a peace of those bastards" Hansu said with anger

"You will, just as soon as Koji comes back and gives us the scope on what they are up to." Said Genrou

Kedorikku was bothered by something else "Hey Genrou have you seen Eiken anywhere.

Genrou knew "He told me he had to go somewhere important but he didn't want me to know. He just left right after Koji."

"He's been acting real strange lately; he doesn't even talk to us much" Responded Kedorikku

"I think he's hiding something from us. I never trusted him anyways." Said Hansu

As Hansu and Kedorikku were having a conversation on Eiken he remained quiet thinking of his plans for the Neshou Bandits. He didn't think much of Eiken because all he is part of is the Reikaku bandits. Besides if he would betray him Eiken would off already do something shocking by now. As dumb as he looks Genrou knows he can outsmart him in numerous ways. But going out without telling him did seem suspicious. Genrou would find out what Eiken is up to. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard some noise coming from the entrance of the door. He started smiling because he knew it was Koji ready to do his little conversation of knocking on the door.

"Knock Knock, who's there, it's Koji with important news, Really! Come on in." He opened the door and appeared to be tired and urgent to tell Genrou something.

Genrou and Koji were happy to see each other and started doing their strange little dance. As soon as they finished Koji said with exhaustion

"You guys have no idea how hard it was to stay hidden. They had their whole hideout guarded with men. It's a good thing I learned those lessons from the old boss. I miss having him around."

"Me too." Genrou said with sadness. Then "Hey any information on what you did?"

"You want me to tell you the whole story or get the main point" said Koji

"Just tells us both" said Genrou with an impatient tone

"Okay first when I saw the men guarding the place they were bringing a lot of young girls inside their place. I heard one of the men saying they were selling them for a good price. I believe that's how those Neshou Bandits are rich. Why did they start setting buildings on fire if they already gained a lot of money by selling those girls? I don't know when but you won't believe who teamed up with them?"

"Well we have suspicions that it could be Eiken." Said Hansu

"He's right Genrou I saw him going to the leader paying him a lot so he could take away your Tessen. Besides seeing him buy some of the girls since he's the perverted pig we know he also promised him that he would kill all of us." Koji said

"Why that Bastard, just wait till I get my hands on that no good….." he started slamming his hands on the table. Filled with furry he couldn't control his anger.

Koji started smiling but not with humor. "Are you guys interested in hearing about our fortune, that's gone as well.

"What?" Hansu said furiously "Why that son of a bitch."

"Calm your self Hansu" said Kedorikku then he eyed Genrou "I'm not surprised that Eiken would plan something like this. He never did like us. When he first joined the Reikaku bandits he was always ignoring us and acting like he was the boss of this place. Why did you let him join Genrou?"

Thinking about Genrou simply said "Well he did save me from getting my ass kicked one day when there were these men that sold some girls to some other bandits. I decided to go and save the girls. But since they were much stronger than me I couldn't fight any longer. That's when Eiken came and saved me. But I remember hearing one of those bandits saying that Eiken had bought those girls. He told me he didn't buy those girls, so I believed him since I owed him for helping me out. He's probably been planning to get rid of me for a long time. Well show him a thing or two."

"Took you long enough to figure it out" Koji said teasing Genrou

"Koji?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up" Koji smiled at him always knowing that his friend got ticked off when he didn't want to admit that he was wrong about something.

"Tomorrow I want you to get our men ready; we'll be attacking those men a week from now."

"Alright then all that watching made me tired. I'm going to sleep" Koji left to his room

Hansu and Kedorikku remained in the table talking while Genrou followed Koji and retired to his own room.

_Back in Tokyo_

Yuri and Adara remained in the beach watching the sunset. Surfing had been fun for Yuri. She started taking surfing lessons when Adara was also a part-time life guard. She knew friends there and she offered Yuri some surfing lessons. As she looked into the sunset she had so many emotions going through her. Being grateful that she got a wonderful place to live in and having friends that love her Yuri couldn't ask for more. Adara was staring at Yuri while she was looking at the sunset. Having this little hellion around seemed like the greatest thing that ever happened to Adara. Without her she would be lonely. That was one thing that Adara has always hated. She felt like she was her daughter. "She's grown up so fast" Adara thought "I hope she never changes."

Closing her eyes Adara lay down on the sand to relax a little. Yuri on the other hand was ready to play a prank on Adara. Grabbing some water from the sea she threw it at Adara which woke her up. Surprised by this she said

"Hey you woke me up, and I was having a nice nap"

"That's the idea, how about we go surfing one more time."

"Sounds good to me but before we go surfing" Adara grabbed some water and threw it at Yuri. They started running throwing water at each other. As they ran to get their surfing boards they started racing

"Come Yuri I know you're faster than that" Adara was trying to encourage Yuri to catch up so she surfed as fast as she could

This reminded her so much of the time her she went fishing with her father. It's like history repeating itself.

Waiting for the wave Yuri sat down on her board. Then the wave started and she stood up real fast. This wave was pretty big. Adara was almost losing control when Yuri came up behind her holding her hand

"Come Adara don't think of giving up" Adara gained some control and started surfing behind Yuri. But she was feeling a little dizzy. She couldn't see Yuri. Soon enough blackness consumed her. She could barely hear Yuri calling her name as she jumped to save Adara while they were in the big wave.

Swimming as fast as she could Yuri couldn't find Adara.

"Adara, where are you?" she looked under the water and saw Adara's body going down the water. Yuri swam towards Adara trying to save her but she seemed to get farther and farther away. Losing hope that she wouldn't be able to reach her Yuri was losing air. Her eyes were slowly closing. "I can't breath" she thought "Losing air, must reach Adara." Out of nowhere a mysterious mark appeared on the side of her stomach. It was glowing like a star. Yuri was feeling a new strength inside something that was never there before. That's when she grabbed Adara's hand and started swimming up. She swam really fast in order to get some air. "Hang on Adara" Yuri silently said as she almost approached the surface. She flew out of the water and into the air. Wait a minute was Yuri flying? She was flying in the air. But that's impossible Yuri was surprised and amazed but when the mark disappeared she fell down in the water. Swimming to the sand she placed Adara on the ground and tried to wake her up. In on of her classes Yuri had learned to do CPR so she started putting her skills to work to save Adara. Hearing her heart no response came. Yuri tried placing air on her mouth and no response. She decided to try it one more time. She pushed her chest with her hands folded and Adara opened her eyes to spit out water at Yuri.

"Adara your okay" she quickly hugged her happy that she didn't die, she brushed off the water from her face "At least spitting water at me helped me feel better." She said that sarcastically but she was glad Adara was okay

"Of course I'm okay. I am talking to you. I feel a bit dizzy though."

"I thought I almost lost you. I was so scared that I couldn't reach you but I did."

"I don't even remember what happened except that I heard you calling my name."

"There was a big wave that hit you and I went under water trying to find you. I don't know how I did it but…"

"But what Yuri?" Adara asked

"Oh never mind Adara what matters is that your okay. You must feel weak. I'll drive us home okay."

Adara knew Yuri was worried for her.

"Alright Yuri I'm to weak to argue anyways, let's go home."

They drove home and once they got there Yuri helped Adara get inside and she placed her on the bed.

"You must feel a little shocked right now. Are you sure you don't need a doctor?"

"No Yuri I'm fine, I just need my rest right now. Thank you for saving me."

"It was nothing. I also wanted to say thank you for showing me a good time." Yuri fell on the bed feeling weak

"Yuri! Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine I just need my rest too. I had quite a day."

"Okay then rest up." With that Yuri smiled at her and left the room

At the Café

Serin was sitting down with Erein, Kiana, and Kuana. They were drinking some coffee. They were glad that they could finish their chores.

"Boy it was a hard day today, doing chores for my dad can be exhausting."

"If you thought that was hard beating those girls from Yokohoma was hard. Well actually we tied because on the girls from our team managed to pitch far. And I thought we were the hardest team to beat." Serin said

"That's nothing to what we did, feeding the homeless at the cafeteria was hard work" Kiana said with pride

"We fed over 500 of them in less than 3 hours" Kuana added

"Yeah I guess that pretty impressive" Erein said

As Erein was talking to them Serin was being ignored. She didn't feel like talking a lot today. Despite the big game she had today going to the Café with her friends was a way to take off all the stress. But it seemed strange to Serin that she had called Yuri and invited her to go but she had refused. "Yuri's been acting real strange lately" Serin thought as she drank her dark coffee. Maybe something happened and she doesn't want to talk about. Ever since they first meet they have been the greatest of friends. They always told each other their secrets and which boys they liked and which ones they didn't. Serin loved Yuri but she didn't know much about her except that Adara had taken her to live with her because she had nowhere else to go. "Maybe I should talk to her tonight" that's when Kuana yelled excitedly

"I can't believe you admitted that" Kuana giggled

"No fair it was a secret between the two of us" said Kiana feeling embarrassed

"Why didn't you tell us you had a crush on Chazu Kiana" Erein asked with amusement

Kuana grabbed the notebook from Kiana and saw all the details of Han and how she was describing her feelings for him.

"Oh great at first it started out as a crush and know I'm falling in love with him" Kiana said feeling ashamed that she admitted that to her friends

"But you guys barely met today" said Erein

"I know but I've been watching him ever since we started high school

"Stocker" Kuana said

"I talked to him today because our science teacher put us together as lab partners."

"So he's just your lab partner big deal, I've had so many guys as my lab partners that I haven't had a crush on either of them."

"It's not about the pairing in the lab, what made fall in love with him is that he has a kind heart and he's helped me through a lot of problems?"

"Like…" Kuana said

"I've been bullied a lot when it was my first year as a Freshmen. He beat up these bullies that were teasing me. When he came up to me to say if I was alright I ran from him."

"You're such a coward" Kuana said

"You would be running too if you had a crush on a boy" Kiana responded

"I would not" Kuana said

"Would too"

"Would not"

"Would too"

"Would not"

"Would….." Serin temper rose as she smacked both of the twins on the head

"Alright you two that's enough."

"Ouch!" Kiana and Kuana said at the same time "That really hurts"

"Okay you guys if you're just about done with your argument I would like to say I have to go home."

"See you later Erein" Serin said as the twins waved at her.

"We better get going Kiana" Kuana said as she saw her sister day dreaming. Stars were sparkling in her eyes when she looked at her notebook.

"Kiana snap out of it, Kiana? Oh well looks like I'll have to drag her home Bye Serin."

"Bye guys" Serin laughed as she saw Kuana trying to drag her sister home.

Serin remained at the Café a few more minutes thinking if she should go to Yuri and ask her if she's okay. She wouldn't bother her friends on that.

"Whatever Yuri is trying to hide I'll figure it out" with determination she got up the grabbed her purse leaving the Café to go home.

_Adara's Apartment a few hours later_

Yuri had just got up from bed drinking a warm tea and walking over to look out the window. She hasn't received a signal from Taiits-kun. "Maybe I won't have to go after all. Yuri thought with a smile. That's when she heard a flash coming from her room. Her cabinet was glowing like a bright star. The light shined with red as it reflected against Yuri's eyes when she saw it.

"Taiits-kun?" Yuri said

The response came by when the mirror was showing an arrow pointing out the window. It was directing her to go through the streets. Yuri didn't want to leave Adara by herself. "I have no choice" she thought remorsefully as she went to Adara's bedroom. She was sleeping like an angel like she was at peace or something. Yuri stared at her and gave her a hug holding her for a moment. After that she kissed Adara's forehead

"I'm sorry Adara I hope you don't hate me" Yuri said with tears gathering behind her eyelids.

She wrote a note to Adara

_Dear Adara,_

_I had to go and complete an important task. I can't tell where it is but all I wanted to say is that you've been like a mother to me and I am sorry for leaving. I am needed somewhere else and I hope in time you can forgive me._

_Sincerely,_

_Yuri_

She took the note and placed it on the bed. Yuri went to her closet and grabbed a big backpack placing her clothes, undergarments, and some snacks. She took of her pajamas and changed into a white Cami tank and her blue Jean skirt. She went to the kitchen to grab her mirror. She took one last look at the apartment and ran off in search of finding Taiits-kun.

**Oh this is exciting. Now after 6 years of being in another world Yuri knows it's time to go back to hers. Poor Adara. It's sad to leave her after all the care she's given Yuri. Oh well stick around for chapter 7.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay! Chapter 7 is here and Yuri is looking for Taiits-kun. Let's see what happens.**

**Chapter 7**

The glowing mirror was giving Yuri directions on where to go. She had gone as far as 3 blocks. Running as fast as she could Yuri found the city dangerous and quiet at night? Making sure that no one was following her she hid behind the shadows of buildings where she was close to alleys. That's when she heard some noise coming behind the trash can. It was growling and it jumped out from the trash can chasing a cat. "Just a dog" Yuri thought as she saw the dog stop. It was a real cute dog. It was a little furry dog that was dirty. It was a mixed Chihuahua with white and brown spots. The dog was happy when he saw Yuri. He jumped up to her wagging his tail.

"Hello there." She petted the dog and it licked her hand

Yuri thought the dog was lost and the owners were searching for it.

"You should go home." She put the dog down and started looking at her mirror. As she walked away to the right the dog was following her. She looked at the dog and told it to go home. The dog wagged its tail and kept on following her. After she walked a few more steps she stopped in the middle of the street and looked at the dog

"Go home already, your owners must be worried," oh great she thought I'm talking to a dog. The dog was looking up at her with a sign that the dog had nowhere else to go. Yuri features softened as she grabbed the dog and hugged it

"You don't have any owners do you?" she asked that to the dog. The dog answered her with a lick in the face

"Okay you can come but first I have to give you a name." when she put the mixed Chihuahua down she saw it was a boy.

"What kind of name should I give you?" she thought that aloud. Then an idea came to her when she looked at the dog.

"Let's call you Momo since peaches are is one of my favorite Fruits." She smiled at the dog "What do you say Momo?"

Momo jumped in the air and Yuri carried him as he lay happily in Yuri's arms.

They left the street and Yuri kept on looking at her mirror as it kept on directing her into a different walk. After she thought she was walking for hours the mirror pointed at a big building. It said "National Library"

"Why the library?" Yuri thought as she put Momo down. Well it was late already and the library closed down so how was she going to sneak in. Yuri decided to think a little bit.

Meanwhile

Serin was walking outside in the streets to get some fresh air. She had invited Erin, Kiana, and Kuana. Han had refused the invitation since he had to do some homework. She would wait for them outside the closed building of the café. Well she actually wanted to see what Yuri was up to. She wanted to know why Yuri was acting so strange. Yuri enjoyed her birthday party but refused to go out to the café. Something was wrong with her Serin thought as she saw her friends approach.

"Hi Serin" Kiana and Kuana said excitedly

"So Serin I know you didn't bring us all the way to just to get some fresh air. Tell me, does this have something to do with Yuri?"

"Come on Erein do you think I would really come out here late at night to spy on Yuri?" she asked innocently

"I'm pretty sure" Erein said

"Since you bothered to take us out here why don't we visit Yuri." Said Kiana

"Maybe she can use some company" Kuana said

"Let's go then" Serin and her friends walked off to visit Yuri and Adara.

As they walked pass the streets they approached the National Library

"Damm!" said Serin "I forgot I had a book report to turn in tomorrow. Why didn't I go sooner to the library?"

"For thinking too much on Yuri?" Erin teased

"Shut up Erein" Serin said

"Did I say something?" Erein said as she giggled at her

"Hey guys why don't we sneak inside." Kuana said

"Are you crazy Kuana?" Kiana said "I don't think it's possible at this time."

Serin walked away from her friends for a moment to the other side of the building and saw that a ladder was already there. Erin and the twins followed her

"Maybe this should help us?" Serin said as she started climbing the ladder.

"Get down Serin" Kiana said

"Your such a baby" Kuana commented

"Am not"

"Are too"

"Be quiet, I'm just going to get the book and come back wait for me outside" Serin hissed at them

"I don't think so, wouldn't want to miss all the fun." Kuana said as she reached the ladder

"To be honest I believe this will be our greatest adventure" Erein said

"You're starting to sound like a fortune teller" Kiana said

"Maybe it's my senses that make me believe something big is coming" Erein said as she turned around for a second and turned back to show Kiana her mysterious face and her eyes had turned dark and scary "Maybe at night the library is haunted and we could stumble upon the boogy man."

"Erein quit playing around you're scaring Kiana" Serin said as she approached the window. She noticed that the window was already opened

"Odd" she said out loud as her friends heard her.

"What's wrong?" Kuana asked Serin

"The window was already opened before we got here"

Erin turned to Kiana and whispered

"I told you"

Kiana smiled nervously at Erin and said "You know I think I heard my mom calling me see ya." Erein grabbed the back of her shirt

"Not so fast Kiana, I want to know who's inside the library."

"It could be Yuri for all I care" Kiana said as she was trying to realize herself

"Maybe she is in there" Erein said

"Calm down everyone let's all go inside and check it out." Erein, Kiana, and Kuana climbed the ladder and followed Serin inside. They were in inside the main office of the library.

"Why did I have to come" Kiana said

"You're the one who insisted on seeing Yuri" Kuana said

"Yes but we weren't planning to go to the library and find out who's inside at this hour."

"Whatever" Kuana responded

They got out of the main office and started going down the stairs where all the books are. Serin quickly ran there and was looking for the book she needed.

"You're going to steal the book?" Kiana asked

"I'm just going to borrow the book and return it tomorrow"

"Take it so we can go" Kiana said nervously

"Where's Kuana?" asked Erein

"Beats me, that girl can get herself in trouble everywhere she goes" Serin said with annoyance she sighed "But let's go look for her anyways"

The girls nodded and walked through the computers of the library. They decided to go upstairs and find Kuana there.

_Upstairs_

Kuana had been upstairs for a few minutes looking into all the rooms the library had. She had more fun when she was alone. When she saw no one paying attention to her she managed to sneak of on her own and find all these great rooms that had a lot of stacked files. She read all the records of the library from returned books to old books that had been removed. When she got bored with that she went through the hall and stopped in front of a room that showed in the door "Document reference room." Kuana was curious to see what was inside so she walked a little closer to it and she was about to open it when

"Kuana, where are you?" her friends were calling her name and when Kuana called them they came in front of her

"What the hell do you think you're doing sneaking off like that" Serin said angrily

"I almost thought that boogy man got you" Kiana said with a worried expression

"Kiana there's no boogy man here" Erein said trying to calm her down

"Come on Kuana let's go back before someone finds us"

"But I was about to open this room" Kuana pointed at it

Serin looked at the door and read the sign. "What's so important about that room, probably it has documents that are really old that they are not needed."

Erein observed the door for a moment and heard a small noise coming from inside "I hear some noise coming from the room."

"Erein?"

"Shhh!" she whispered at Serin then she told Kuana "I want you to open that door slowly. I think someone is inside." Kuana swallowed but nodded as she gripped the door and started turning the knob slowly. She hesitated a little but opened the door to see an empty room filled with the same stuff as the other rooms she went to.

"Oh man and here I thought this room was going to have cooler stuff." Kuana sounded disappointed

"Wait a second" Erein walked to one of the shelves and saw some very old books that she's never seen before.

"I've never seen these books before"

"Maybe because they were so old they stored them in here" Kiana said

"I guess I imagined that noise" Erein said. All of a sudden she heard a bark coming further in the room.

"Aaahhhh!" Kiana yelled "That sounded like a beast."

"Now this is when things get exciting. I want to go see what did that?" Kuana left the others while Serin called her name but followed her. Erein followed them and Kiana was scared but trailed behind Erein and the others.

Meanwhile

Yuri had been in the document room searching for Taiits-kun. Of course Momo was trailing behind Yuri as she looked. She had heard some noise earlier but ignored it. When she saw her mirror pointing at something she saw that it was an old book. She grabbed the book and it read "Universe of the Four Gods." She was a bit surprised that Taiits-kun was inside the book. "How can another world be inside this book?" Yuri was reminded of the girl she saw at the store. "Maybe she's in the book. Wait! If I was born inside the book does that make me a made-up character." As hard as it was to believe she never thought she would believe that she was created in a story. Yuri got her hopes up by saying

"Well even if I'm not real at least I'll be back in my own world where I belong." Momo started barking

"Momo what's wrong?" Momo ran off and smelled something.

"Momo?" the dog came closer behind the shelves. He growled as he heard some muted sounds coming from behind. Yuri followed him while she was holding the book.

_Behind the shelves_

"It's getting closer" Kiana said as she hid behind Erein.

"It didn't sound that scary. Maybe there's a lost animal inside." Serin was determined to find out for herself. She took a few steps forward and came out fast as she saw an adorable mixed Chihuahua. Serin saw the dog and when she looked up she saw Yuri standing in front of her with an old book in her hands. Serin was surprised and angry at the same time.

"Yuri?" Serin just stood there not knowing what to say. Of course Kuana came running towards Yuri

"Yuri!" she hugged her happy to see her. Erein and Kiana came along with the group

"What are you doing in the library Yuri?" Kiana asked. She got excited when she saw the puppy

"This is the most adorable dog" she grabbed him and the dog happily licked Kuana in the face. Kiana saw the dog and started petting him

"Where did you find him?"

"I found him in the streets, poor creature. He followed me and I just took him with me."

"What's his name?" Kuana asked

"Momo" Yuri answered

Erein remained silent and noticed Serin was very angry indeed. As her voice said

"What are you doing here at this hour?" Yuri didn't know what to say so she countered

"What brings you here?" she was surprised to see her friends here. Kuana happily said

"We came here to get a book for Serin since she forgot about her book report."

"Really?" Yuri said as she smiled a bit

"What's that book about Yuri?" Erein asked as her friends laid there eyes on the book she was holding.

"Well this book….uh this book it's about the Universe of the Four Gods"

"Do you know about it?" Erein asked

"No I haven't read it yet"

"Well aren't you going to open it?" Serin asked

"I thought I could read it later, it's not important"

Serin was losing her patience. Violently she took the book from Yuri and opened it.

Yuri grabbed the book and took it back

"Why did you open it?" Yuri asked

"I wanted to see what's inside" Serin said with a smirk. When Yuri saw the opened book a bright red light appeared. Yuri and her friends screamed as the light was going through their bodies making them disappeared.

A mysterious red bird had taken all the girls inside the book. A new adventure and story will be unleashed

**Yuri's friends get to join the adventure. Thirsty for more? Chapter 8 is ready to go. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Finally the girls get suck in the book. What will happen next? Read to find out. **

**Chapter 8**

_Somewhere in a forest_

Lying down on the ground Yuri slightly opened her eyes to see where she was. When she got up she noticed that she wasn't in the library anymore. There were trees everywhere and it was dark with a lot of stars in the sky. A bark was heard and Yuri ran to find it

"Momo!" he ran to Yuri and she grabbed him to make sure he was okay

"I'm glad you're here." She paused for a moment to remember what happen in the library. I remember Serin opened the book and a red light surrounded all of us. But that means Serin and others must have gotten here somehow. As soon as she realized that she grabbed her bag and went to look for the others. It really was hard to see at night. Momo was following Yuri.

"I hope there Okay"

Well it was too dark and since it might take all night to find them she decided to camp out and look for them tomorrow. Placing her bag on the ground she went to get some wood to set up a fire. It was pretty cold and she had brought shorts and a white tank. She looked into her bag to find a brown sweater. She put it on and lay on the ground while Momo walked to Yuri and cuddled up to stay warm.

"You're cold too? Let's see if I brought a blanket." She took out a long pink blanket and she wrapped it around her and Momo.

"Let's get some sleep." A few moments later she was on the ground staring at the fire looking at it while the fire reflected from her blue sapphire eyes. You could see the anger in her eyes when she stared at the fire. Suddenly Yuri's thoughts came back to her father and she saw a vision when she was 11 years looking at her father while he struggled to stay alive and comfort her. Only it was too late to save him. The wound was severely deep and his spinal cord had failed. She wanted to cry but she wouldn't. "I'll be strong for you Bao-zhi." She vowed. That also reminded her of the revenge she would have on Shan. Killing him would put Yuri at ease. The problem was how was she going to find him? "I'll get you cold blooded murderer." After staring at the fire Yuri looked at Momo. He really was tired Yuri thought with a grin. She fell asleep a few minutes later.

Serin had woken up to find herself in a forest. Along with her were Erein, Kiana, and Kuana who were on the ground.

"Guys wake up." she started tapping everyone. Well Erein had groaned with pain and Kiana had waked up clearing her head except for Kuana who still seemed to be unconsciously lying on the ground.

"Kuana? Get up" Kiana grabbed a hold of her shoulders to make sure she got up. No response came.

"She's not waking up." Kiana said

"Maybe she fainted" Erein said

"Let me take a look at her" Serin moved Kiana to shake Kuana by the shoulders. Her eyes were closed.

"Kuana stop playing around I know your going to get up any second." All she heard were crows. Then a snoring sound came from her as she hugged Serin. With a curse she dropped her on the ground. Kuana woke up

"Is the dream over?"

"You idiot! We thought you were hurt." Serin said angrily but Kiana was smiling because she knew her sister would do pranks like this to scare people.

"Oh well, now that you woke me up…wait a second where are we?"

"I don't know" Serin thought for a moment recalling the time when she was in the library with Yuri. But where is she?

"This has to be a dream" Kiana said

"I don't think it's a dream or else you would have woken up by now" Erein looked at Kiana while she grabbed her head

"Okay maybe if think real hard I'll wake myself up from this dream and find myself in my own bedroom."

"That's not going to work but this will" Kuana smacked her in the head

"Are you insane?" Kiana rubbed her head

"Yeah, I guess I am"

Serin had been wondering how she got here. Well it didn't look like she was in Japan. This was a forest and there were a lot of noises coming like the sound of an owl and some wolves. Kiana jumped on Erein as she heard the wolves howling

"Get off me Kiana" she got of her quickly, realizing she was squeezing Erein too hard

"Those wolves could get closer let's get out of here."

"We have to find Yuri." Kuana said

"Why should we look for her" Serin said

"Because she's our friend, maybe she's lost"

"She can take care of herself" Serin replied stubbornly

"Kuana is right let's find Yuri so we could get out of this place." Kiana said

"I think Yuri is on her way to find us" Erein said

"How do you know?" Serin asked

"It's a just a feeling" Erein said

"If you're going to stand here all night then I'm going to find Yuri by myself."

"Kuana Wait!" Serin ran after Kuana

Kiana and Erein went to catch up with them. As they were walking through the forest they heard some strange noises coming from behind them. They ignored them at first but when they looked up at the trees shadows were creeping up the trees.

"Did you hear anything" Kiana said as she was behind Erein

"No" Erein responded while she ran after Serin and Kuana

Some men were up in the trees looking at them

"Hey Ru-su check it out." One of the other men got his attention and they looked at the girls with satisfaction on their faces.

"I never seen those girls before, just look at their clothing" Said a bandit named Nikorasu with black hair and brown eyes

"Too bad they don't know about the trap we set up for them" said the dark-brown haired bandit

"I can't wait to have one of them" Nikorasu said as he stared at one of the girls with hunger

"I wouldn't get too comfortable with them. Women can easily fool you so focus on the job." Ru-su said coolly

"Is that all we have to do with Shan. Do all the work for him by finding lost girls in a forest while he's happily getting lost in his own mountain of money"

"I've been faithful to him and always will be" Ru-su said

Nikorasu knew that Ru-su was a homosexual and had feelings for his boss. It was strange how he can grow to love a man who cares nothing about you but loves his fortune more than anything in the world.

"Don't expect for him to love you back"

"He will love me you'll see once we show him these girls he will be satisfied and could even give me the position of being the boss."

Nikorasu was amused by his spontaneous declaration "You really think you can get the position of being the boss, you're a fool Ru-su."

"You'd like to be in my place right now. Competing for the boss position won't be hard. Shan told us there would be a new boss. Why not me?"

"Can you stop glorifying yourself, where here to just catch the girls and sale them. Besides maybe the boss will let me keep the one of the girls"

"There are plenty of women left on this earth that you can have"

"Shut your ass. I hear one of the girls running towards the trap."

They said nothing more to each other but waited for the girls to get trapped any moment.

Serin was trying to stop Kuana from running.

"Kuana wait!"

"I'm not stopping until I find her. I don't understand why you are so mad at her?"

"She ran away from home and left Adara all by herself. What's not to be mad about?"

"But she still needs our help. Yuri probably is looking for us too." She turned around and kept on running some more leaving Serin standing there frozen. Kiana and Erein cached up

"Where's my sister?" Kiana asked

Serin didn't say anything. She was frozen with the words Kuana had told her. "This all Yuri's fault" she narrowed her eyes "If it wasn't for her Kuana wouldn't be mad at me and we wouldn't be running around in this horrible forest. Erein and Kiana ran after Kuana. Serin snapped out of it and ran behind Erein and Kiana. A scream from Kuana came out.

"Kuana!" Kiana yelled as she looked for her sister. She ran for a few minutes when she saw her sister inside a trap. She was smiling because Kuana was annoyed of being stuck inside the trap. Kiana was already giggling

"Don't make fun of me"

"Why not? It's just funny to see you so frustrated."

"Any ideas to get me out?"

"I don't have a knife or anything."

Serin and Erein came out to find the one of the twins trapped on top of a tree.

"You always get yourself in trouble, even when you're not in danger." Erein said

"Just get me down from here." Kuana replied as her friends were trying to pull her down. No use the rope was placed tightly on top of the branch.

"I wonder who put the trap here; someone was expecting us to fall for it" Erein observed the trap

"Eventually one of us did" Kuana complained

The same bandits who were up in the trees saw that there trap had work. They came down from the trees coming up with a plan to catch the rest of the girls.

When Serin turned around the bandit grabbed her by the waist placing a knife on her throat. However the other Bandit managed to punch Kiana and she dropped on the ground. Erein was calmed. She stood in front them showing no kind of emotion in her face

"Well, well look what we have here." Nikorasu said while he pointed a knife at her

"You think that by kidnapping us you'll get what you want." Erein said

"Once I get through with you then I'll have what I wanted." His gaze went up and down her body knowing that she was going to be the perfect little entertainment for him. Erein glared at the man.

"That's better" he said as he grabbed one of her shoulders to turn her around. He forced her to walk.

"Move" he commanded. Erein did as she was told "It's up to you now Yuri" she silently prayed and had her hopes that Yuri would save them.

Ru-su took down the trap where Kuana was. He cut down the rope making Kuana have a painful landing

"You clumsy dork!" the least you can do is catch me when you're trying to take me down." Ru-su took out the girl out of the trap and angrily grabbed her shirt

"Don't talk to me like that you wench if you want to have that pretty face of yours unharmed." He roughly let go of her.

"Dumb ass" she hissed

He was ignoring her at the moment when he saw Nikorasu had grabbed the unconscious girl Kiana. He grabbed her like a sac carrying her while Serin, Erein, and Kuana started walking in front of them. They felt helpless that they couldn't do anything. Trying to fight them will only get them killed. Only time would tell.

Yuri woke up with a start. She felt something bad was happening to her friends. But where could they be? As she walked to a tree with a little hideout she put her bag inside the tree taking Momo inside.

"I want you to stay here okay boy" she walked out and saw Momo going under the blanket. He was very obedient. What a smart dog. Yuri thought as she got out of the tree. If she was going to find her friends there it would be necessary to bring a knife.

"Great!" Yuri sighed hard "A bring everything except a knife." There was no knife or weapons inside her bag. But she would look for her friends weapon or no weapon. She made her way through the forest. She heard some noise coming up from the trees. Looking up there was a shadow figure up there but it was hard to see who it was. With great speed the shadow dissolved itself and got away. That was weird she thought as she stared at the tree. As soon as the shadow was gone Yuri kept on walking further into the forest.

When her path started getting wider there was a town appearing. She got closer and went to the sign which said "Mt. Hoku" Well the place wasn't familiar to her but she would go and ask questions to people who've seen something suspicious. It was late and nobody was outside. She passed by a lot of houses hoping to find her friends. Instead there was a group of men carrying bags. They stopped to see the Yuri looking at them.

"Hey you! What brings out at this hour?" said one of the men

"None of your business" Yuri replied

"I'll make it my business" he said as he started approaching her. One of the other men stopped him by grabbing his arm. He glared at her and said

"This isn't over girl." he stood there for a moment looking at her like he wanted to throttle her.

"Don't harm the girl, we got some business to take care of first" he moved away from Yuri as he followed the man with the bag. One of the gold coins dropped but they didn't notice. Yuri grabbed it. There was gold in that bag. But what are they going to use the money for Yuri thought when she grabbed the coin. She decided to follow the men. There were a lot of stars up in the sky as Yuri walked. It was lighter as she was getting closer to a place with trees everywhere. She got behind the bushes quickly when more men started coming in and out of the hideout. There was a lot going on. Her face was more surprised when she saw bandits pushing girls inside the hideout. Men were coming out with them as there were more men coming inside with money. "There selling girls" it was upsetting to see this poor girls being sold to men who would….oh god. Then a more disturbing scene took place in front her as she saw two bandits pushing girls with different clothing and the other bandit was carrying the injured girl. Serin was struggling with the men not wanting to be pushed inside. Erein went inside and Kuana was glaring at the men who held them captive.

"Hang on guys" she ran to the other side finding a way to get inside the hideout. She went to the back of the building. The place was guarded with men.

"How can I get in?" she thought as she started walking towards the entrance. In one quick motion a hand clamped her mouth and was holding her tightly with one hand around her waist. Yuri was trying to dislodge her self but it was hopeless. She took a close look at the man seeing that he wasn't one of those ugly men she had seen earlier. He had blue hair and brown eyes and a scar on the right side of his jaw. He was trying to calm her down

"Quiet down or else we'll get caught. I'll let go of you if you promise not to scream." Yuri's tension subsided and she nodded. The man let go of her

"What are you trying to do get yourself killed?"

"You don't understand my friends are in there I have to get them out of there."

"Just you?" he asked unsure that she wouldn't be able to do that

"Exactly what are you doing here?" she asked with a hard tone

"I'm trying to get the men down from the other side so I can….wait a second why am I telling you this?"

"I'm going to get in there" Yuri ran away from him going to the other side. He ran after her angry with her now

"This isn't going to work. If you get pass those men they'll get you and ra..."

"You don't need to tell me what's going to happen. I can take good care of myself"

Realizing that he couldn't change her mind he decided to make a deal with her

"I'll help get your friends out of there"

Yuri looked at him unsure of what he said

"What?"

"We'll get your friends out from that place"

"Thanks but no thanks I can do it myself."

"You really are stubborn"

"Stubborn? STUBBORN! Don't tell me about stubborn. I am capable of doing this and you're wasting my time by talking about it."

"Fine! If you want to get yourself in trouble I won't stand in your way" he left her without once looking at her

Yuri kind of felt bad that she didn't accept his offer. He was being real nice to her and she threw his offer right in his face. Something about him seemed nice. It's like it felt to be safe being around him.

"Why am I thinking about it" mentally shaking her head she got closer and saw a man standing in front of the entrance with a weapon in his hand.

"I need a weapon" she whispered aloud. But then an idea popped in her mind. If she didn't have a weapon then maybe giving him a little attention would fool him. Yuri tried acting as seductive as she possibly could to weaken him

"Hi there" she placed herself in a position where she was exposing her leg and looking at him like he was special

The man pointed the weapon at her but he started looking over her as she got closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder

"Your not suppose to be here"

"Why not?" she said innocently

"Because I say so and don't try to get any closer"

"There's something important I need to tell you"

"What is it?" he said

"There's another bandit hiding around the building trying to sneak in"

"You expect me to fall for that? Foolish girl, however…" he started getting closer to her and before she could react she was roughly pulled into his arms

"Now that you're here how about you show me a good time" there was nothing she could do to get out of his grasp. Then the same young appeared out from the bushes grabbing the pan in the ground and smacking him in the head with all his might. The bandit fell down from the stairs and landed in the bushes.

"What do you think you were doing?"

"Using my charm" Koji glared at her and thought the idea of seeing the bandit with her disgusted him but he smiled at her for the first time and said

"I guess it worked pretty well" then more seriously he grabbed her hand and lead her inside the entrance

"I thought you weren't going to stand in my way"

"At first I was mad because you rejected my help but I realized that you would still need some help so whether you like it or not I'm gonna help you"

"I could off beat that bandit without your help"

"The way I saw it there wasn't a chance to beat that idiot while he was trying to…" he broke not wanting to talk about it anymore

"Trying to what?" she taunted

"Trying to… rape you" he finished his sentence leaving Yuri speechless. Now was the time to apologize to him. Yuri thought it was nice of him to help out.

"Sorry for being stubborn" she meant it

"Don't worry about it" he gave her a wink

"My name's Yuri"

"I'm Koji"

"So Koji what brings you here?"

"Let's go inside that room" they went inside an empty room hiding from the men guarding the place. He closed the door behind him and came closer to Yuri

"I'm here because these Bandits have done a lot of bad things in our place. They have killed innocent people and burned buildings. Now I'm here bringing my men so they can take over the place. They don't even now we're coming."

"You're going to ambush them?" Yuri said

"That's pretty much it"

"Those poor people, they deserve to be punished" Koji thought this girl was really something. He glanced at her but he snapped out of it when he heard men coming inside the room.

"Hide" they got under the bed when the men pushed the door open

"Did you hear anything?" said a bandit

"No. There's nothing in here." The bandits left the room

Koji helped Yuri to her feet. They got out of that room and they were behind the wall while they heard men laughing and drinking. There were pretty girls dressed in nice clothes serving them food. The girls seemed really sad but they were forced to serve them. One of them grabbed a purpled hair girl and placed her in his lap murmuring in her ear. The girl was crying a little and the man pushed her and ordered her to get some more food. That's when two other bandits pushed forward other girls that had different clothing than there's. Serin and others were okay, at least for the moment. Yuri was about to move when Koji gave her a warning look. She remained mute.

Then the men started settling down as the leader came out making an appearance that would frighten many people. Yuri was even more shocked that that was the same man she met 6 years ago. It was Shan, the man responsible for her father's death. Feeling fury unlike any other she started running in front of him and Koji couldn't stop her in time. Cursing he ran to stop Yuri but he realized he was standing in front of the men and the leader.

"Shan!" all the men turned around to see a girl with different clothing. Erein, Kiana, and Kuana were so happy to see Yuri

"Yuri!" Kuana said

Her face was flushed with anger and the bandit leader Shan seemed unsure of who the girl was at first but when he saw those blue sapphire eyes flashing before his eyes he immediately realized who it was. He was also surprised to see her after all this time. She would come and get revenge. Smiling with pleasure he gazed at her with an evil grin enjoying her anger.

Her friends were so relieved to see Yuri was okay except for Serin who didn't seem to care. Yuri and Shan remained still staring at each other...

_TO BE CONTINUED_

**Yes I know it's sad to leave it here but since I erased my story you can find out what comes after this.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Oh no! Shan and Yuri come face to face. Shan vs. Yuri? Who will win. On with the chapter.**

**Chapter 9**

As infuriating as it seemed for Yuri there was nothing she could with her friends being held hostages. Shan stared at her for a long moment as if he was reading her mind

"Well Mei-li…" he began

"Yuri" she corrected

"Mei-li" he stated stubbornly "This is a surprise indeed, I never thought I'd see the day."

"Looks like these girls are going to be here for a while" he said "but don't worry I won't beat them so they could be good enough for my men" he glanced at his men grinning with pure evil as the other bandits looked at Yuri and the girls with more than just murder in their eyes.

"Let go of them right now" she said

"I don't think so these girls are worth a good price, but since you're here at last I thought you could have some fun with my men." Then he looked at the fellow with blue hair. Koji glared at him with pure hatred

"Is this your lover Mei-li?" he asked on purpose. Yuri remained glaring at him and she was about to say something to him when Koji stood in front of her facing the leader with a hateful glare

"Don't talk to her like that." He marched towards the leader already pointing the sword in his face

"I see this fellow will even kill anyone to please you" Shan said. The bandits got up abruptly to point there swords at Koji.

"You should be thought a lesson for daring to step foot in my place. Take care of this boy and the girl." The bandits started getting closer to them getting ready to attack them. Yuri and Koji got together taking a step back to avoid the bandits

"I need a weapon" Yuri said

"Here" Koji gave her an extra sword that he had on his waist. Yuri took it. There were too many men to face and her friends were hopelessly standing there afraid to make one move.

"You couldn't even wait" Koji muttered at her

"That doesn't matter now…" she gestured at the men who already started his move in slashing Yuri. However she waved her sword matching his strength. Yuri was being brought down. But she wouldn't give in. She raised her foot in the air kicking the man hard in the Shan. He yowled with pain. He managed to bring his hand to Yuri's hair. It was pretty painful for Yuri but she was attacking the man with her fists trying to bring him down once more. Koji went to slash the man in the leg. He was brought down. More men came forward yelling like warriors, Koji was already attacking the men leaving there arms wounded as he moved his sword. He really was a good swordsman Yuri thought as she saw the men kneeling and falling to the ground. Yuri smiled at him

"Are you Okay?" she asked when she saw the some blood in his neck. The cut wasn't serious but it was bleeding. Koji waved her off

"The cut won't kill me" he jested

Shan was angry at the moment but then his lips made a grin as he started clapping

"That was very impressive"

"You still haven't learned your lesson Mei-li" he said as he got closer to her "Way before your father was born he was part of the Neshou Bandits." Yuri's eyes were wide opened

"You're lying!" Yuri yelled while Shan continued "We were always going into people's houses stealing and murdering families, but that all changed when he fell in love with your mother Ai-mu. He stopped being a bandit just for her. Your father had been a fool since that day and he'll always be." Yuri had enough

"Stop it!" tears started running down her cheeks "You killed my father because he fell in love with a woman he cared for deeply. You think money is more important to you than having someone you can care for. If you've been thinking like that then that makes you the fool. I'll never forgive you." Her friends had there faces in shock as they heard about her father. Shan's anger rose as he got closer. He grabbed Yuri by the shirt pulling it really hard while the sword loosened from her grip.

"Now that your father and mother are dead it's your turn to suffer the same fate." He took out a knife from his pocket. Kuana was whimpering

"Yuri!" she looked at her desperately feeling useless that she couldn't go and help her. Those stupid bandits were keeping them in place. The bandit holding Kuana got the knife closer to her

"Don't try helping your friend over there if you want to live" Kuana dropped to the ground while Erein tried comforting her. Serin couldn't believe what she just heard. How did she know this evil bandit? Serin started feeling sorry for Yuri. Erein kneeled down to comfort Kuana while Kiana was feeling angry at the moment with the Bandit leader.

"I wish there was something we could do?" Erein just looked at Yuri wondering who she really was know that she heard her past being revealed.

Koji ran to help her when all of a sudden he was hit in the head by a log. Koji was knocked out. That was a crucial blow. The man who smacked him with the piece of wood got closer. He was very ugly and fat and his eyes were looming over the girls that were in the room. Shan roughly let go of Yuri placing her where her friends were. There was nothing Yuri could do for Koji. One move and the bandits would kill her.

Kuana went quickly to Yuri

"Yuri I knew you would come" she hugged her tightly Yuri hugged her back happy that her friends were safe. Erein gave a soft smile and placed a hand on Yuri's shoulder

"I'm so glad you came" Kiana came cheerfully

"At least we found you"

Serin didn't say anything for a moment.

"Yuri I'm…" Serin was interrupted by Shan's voice

"Eiken take that peace of dirt inside the dark room and tie him up so he won't escape."

"Sure thing" he said as he picked him up. At the corner of his eyes he looked at the girls. His eyes went to Serin, Erein, Kiana and Kuana. But then he looked at Yuri and his eyes seemed to stay there for a long time.

"I'd like to take all those girls" he said to Shan

"Remember our deal you stupid fat ass"

"What about the Tessen?" Eiken countered

"You'll get it as soon as you're done taking care of business with the other men buying the girls over there" he pointed at the other girls who were still at the table", I make the rules here so you better shut up or else you won't be getting anything."

Eiken hated this man but he did want to be boss of the Reikaku bandits. He did a quick nod and left with the blue hair man. Shan turned the girls and ordered his two men Nikorasu and Ru-su to lock the girls in another room upstairs. Both of them took the girls and locked them inside the room. Yuri wanted to escape to save Koji. Serin went to Yuri sitting down by her.

"I guess you want to know about me" Yuri said reading Serin's mind. Serin slowly nodded to her and Yuri started

"When I was a little girl my mother died from an illness" then she went on talking about her father and how she would spend her days fishing with him and doing activities together. She also talked about her fear of him dying after her mother's death. With more tension she talked about her father's murder

"We were attacked by bandits and my father challenged the bandit leader to a duel. He fought hard and defeated him but the low life coward threw his sword landing on my father's back. There was nothing I could do for him. I failed to protect him. I failed as a daughter, I…" she stopped because she started sobbing hating the past that was coming back to her. Yuri wanted to be back in Japan being living her normal life. As her friends listened to the story they said nothing. All they felt was remorse to Yuri. Serin got close to Yuri crying with her.

"Why didn't you tell us anything?"

"I was just afraid"

"Why on earth would you be afraid, you know that we don't care who you are or where you come from" Serin said

"Yeah Yuri" Erein continued "What matters is that we are friends. Maybe telling us would off make you feel better. It helps make your shoulders feel a little lighter." Yuri smiled at that and feeling thankful she had good friends.

"Thank you for listening" Yuri said. Serin turned to Yuri

"I'm sorry for being very rude, I was so angry that you were keeping secrets from me. You know I remember that we always told each other everything."

"Even which boys we liked" Yuri added with a grin

"That too" Serin said

"I didn't want to worry you over something like this. It's dangerous you know to live in place like this. We have to find a way to get you guys back to your world."

Serin thought for a moment going back to where she was in the library. Right before her eyes she remembered that there was a book glowing with a red light.

"Yuri the book you were holding took us back into your world, but that means your a…" Serin did know that people from books were fictional. She was afraid to tell Yuri that she was not a real person.

"What did you say?" Yuri asked

"Oh never mind Yuri, all I wanted to say is the apology. I was going to apologize to you when we were downstairs but I kind of back down" Yuri went up to Serin

"Apology accepted" Kuana was glad that Serin apologized to Yuri. With all of them being friendly again she happily said

"Now that that's settled how are we going to get out of here?"

"I don't know" Yuri said. Koji was trapped somewhere downstairs.

"Do you think you guys can wait in here" Yuri said

"What for?" Serin asked

"There's someone I need to rescue"

"Who is this someone?" Erein asked

"His name is Koji; I owe him for helping me out"

"Watch out Yuri has a boyfriend" Serin said aloud

Yuri blushed but pushed Serin as she was laughing "There's nothing like that going on I just met him"

"Don't worry guys I'll come back for you" she went to the window trying to open it but it didn't work. There was no way she could budge. Then she looked up at the ceiling trying to find a hole she could squeeze through. Her eyes fell upon a little hole. It was small but if she could break if she could jump.

"Stand back guys" she said as her friends moved. She jumped in the air using her fist to make the hole bigger. Some of the wood fell down and the hole was bigger but Yuri jumped higher in the air punching it harder. All the wood fell on top of her as the damage on the roof was made. Serin and her friends ran down to see if she was okay.

"That was dumb" Serin commented as she was taking the wood off from Yuri

"At least I can jump out to the roof now" Yuri got up and jumped in the air then she whispered from the roof

"Keep each other safe"

"You too Yuri" Kiana said

Disappearing into the dark all they could hope for was Yuri's safety and for those bandits not to go inside the room they were trapped in anytime soon.

Waking up with a headache Koji cleared his eyes to see him tied up to a chair. All he remembered was being hit with something hard.

"Unless I can get out of this damm rope" he said. He found his knife all the way at the table. His thoughts returned to Yuri wondering if she was alright. Because of her she'd gotten him into all this trouble.

"If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be in this mess" he muttered as he tried moving his chair to reach the knife at the table across from him.

_Meanwhile_

Yuri was outside trying to find the room that Koji was in. Looking in every room wouldn't help. Then she saw a dark room. Maybe Koji was in that one. Only one way to find out Yuri thought as she got close to it. Jumping high in the air as usual she landed in the dark room to find nothing inside. It was too dark to see with all the shadows.

"Koji?" she whispered. A groan came from the room as she gasped a little to see Koji in the room. The chair he was in had tipped over. He looked beat…

"Wake up" Koji opened his eyes to look up at Yuri.

"What are you doing here?" he asked

"Rescuing you"

"Yeah you rescue me but what will happen if we try to escape, it's dangerous as it is with you popping up to face those stupid bandits for a fight."

"At least I'm here so you aught to be grateful I'm here to help you" she spotted the knife Koji was trying to reach for. Yuri smiled when she cut the rope.

"So this is what you were reaching for?"

"All because of this stupid chair I was tied up to I couldn't reach it" he started walking towards the window

"Where are you going?"

"Getting out"

"But my friends are still in there"

"Yuri let's get out of here, I promise we'll help your friends but I need to go back to my men I'm going to need back up since you ruined my plan."

"So I'm the cause of all your problems?" she said feeling a bit hurt

"Every last one of them" he said "But I want you to go back with me so we could get some help."

"Fine" she said flatly as she and Koji got out from the window. Koji was climbing down with the rope and Yuri jumped down landing with no problem. Koji's rope ripped and he landed hard on the ground.

"How the heck did you do that?"

"I don't know" Yuri said

"You're bad at handling a sword but you're a good jumper"

"At least I don't fall on my ass when I'm handling a rope" she shot back. Footsteps were heard and Koji and Yuri made a run for it through the forest. Yuri did a silent prayer for her friends.

Once they got deep inside the forest Yuri remembered that Momo was still inside the tree she left him. She kept on walking hoping to hear Momo's bark. From far away came a growl instead of a bark. Koji went to figure out what it was. He saw a small light coming from a tree. A dog jumped out of nowhere biting Koji's hand. Koji wailed and tried to get the dog off. He was running back in forth shaking the dog off but it wasn't working. It was like having crazy glue stuck to your hand.

"Koji Stop!" when Koji stopped the dog was hanging loosely on Koji's hand. Yuri called Momo and he let go off of Koji. Momo was so glad to see Yuri that he licked her in the face.

"What the hell? That dog almost ripped my hand off!"

"He didn't recognized you" she put Momo near Koji and he started behaving well by licking his face. Koji held the dog for a moment

"Damm Mutt! You bite my hand again and I'll" the dog growled at Koji. He handed the dog back to Yuri.

"I'll leave my things inside the tree" leaving Koji for a moment she took Momo and placed him inside the tree. Since the hole of the tree could only fit her bag and Momo there was no way anyone could Momo hiding inside the tree.

"I want you to stay here okay boy, I'll be back soon." Yuri went to Koji to see him blowing his hand from the bite he had.

"Stupid dog, I'm surprised my hand didn't come off" Yuri started laughing for the first time. It was a natural sound as her breathing quickened a bit. Koji just looked at her enjoying her voice.

"I'm sorry it's just…"

"Don't apologize. I like to hear you laugh" Koji wanted to ask her about the Bandit leader and how she knew him

"Yuri, can I ask you something?"

"Yes"

"I heard what the bandit leader said about your father, how do you know him?" Yuri didn't want to bring it up anymore but she told him anyways

"According to him he said my father was part of his bandit group. Bao-zhi was a very loving father and he lived a happy life with my mother. I don't know what to believe anymore. That stupid bandit Shan attacked my father and killed when he threw the knife on his back. But I promised on my father's grave that I would get revenge and kill Shan. But I'd be letting him escape to easy. He deserves to suffer more than just death." Koji thought this was a more different Yuri than the one he met before. It sounded like a savage trying to get what he wanted even if it meant killing people in the bargain. He wished he could comfort her but he couldn't bring himself to that. Bringing back some positive attitude in his face he said

"Don't give up Mei-li" he said teasing her "I'll do what I can to help you" Yuri responded by matching his grin

"As long as you don't call me Mei-li"

"Okay Yuri whatever you say" he said trying to lighten her mood. Her expression changed so fast that he wondered what caused that. She grabbed his hand joyfully.

"Come on Koji!" she didn't even know where she was going but Koji didn't tell her anything because it seemed that she was on the right trail. By luck they have made it through Mt. Reikaku. They took breaks here and there but they managed to get to the town.

"Did you know even which way you were going?" Koji asked eager to hear her answer

"Not really, but I heard of it."

"How did you hear of it?" Koji asked with disbelief in his eyes

"It was close in my town Namhoi."

Koji did here of that village but how did Yuri know of this place. Her clothes were very different from the ones he was wearing. He was curious to know about her.

"Why are you wearing clothes like that if you say you're from Konan?"

"You think I'm a liar?" she asked getting riled up

"No, I'm just saying that you can't be in two places at once. You know a lot about the towns here in Konan, but I've never seen clothes like that worn by any people I've seen around here. Yuri sighed hard but she explained to him anyways

Yuri somehow found that talking to Koji made her feel better, from her childhood in Namhoi to her new life in another world. She talked about how the Japan was different from Konan and all the foods, people, and technology. Although it didn't make any sense to Koji he got interested as she got deeper into her story. He told her about an old sorcerer named Taiits-kun that had taken her into that world

"I don't think I've ever heard of her."

"She's the ruler of this world. If you ever meet her you'd feel like pulling her hairs every time." Koji started chuckling in a low voice.

"I could be talking for hours if you don't stop laughing." Koji stopped laughing and his eyes got more serious when they started getting inside Mt. Reikaku. He led her through a lot of homes. They went in silence until Koji made a right turn to find his hide out. Yuri also wanted to know about Koji.

"What do you do Koji?"

"I'm good with a sword…" he stopped when Yuri said "I already know that part"

"Let's just say that I get involved in a lot of battles, I also steal."

"You steal?" Yuri asked wanting to know more

"Yeah but not in the way your thinking, we steal and give to the poor and… keep some of the money for ourselves." Yuri thought it was wrong to steal but she also thought the unfortunate needed help too.

"You remind me of Robin Hood." She said

"Who's Robin Hood?"

"The story is about a poor man that steals from the king to give to the poor"

"Sounds like a good story" Koji said as though he wanted to know more about this guy

"Although he's very generous he gets into trouble most of the time"

"That reminds me of you" Koji said. Yuri said nothing which meant the end of the conversation was over. He managed to catch a smile forming from her lips. Even her blush kind of surprised him.

They kept walking further until a big house came into view. He explained that's where he lived. Yuri thought it was a good home for a family. But right away Koji noticed something was wrong. He couldn't here any noise and it was dark inside. Koji wanted Yuri to stay outside just in case but she refused and Koji didn't want to argue so she was right behind him and he came closer to the entrance. He didn't bother knocking on the door. He kicked the door and saw a room in darkness. They walked in slowly to see no one inside. Koji's surprise came when the room was lighted and a bunch of bandits jumped on them. Koji tried fighting them but it was no use there were too many of them. Yuri tried to hit them but two of them grabbed her by the arms. They kicked her also making her weak. Koji was even more shocked when an ugly fat man came in front of them. Even Hansu and Kedorikku were behind him. The worse part about was that he was holding the tessen. He saw men from his bandit group and different men that he recognized as some of the Neshou bandits. It seems that with that fan Eiken had the power to control everyone. Eiken smugly smiled at Koji

"Koji it's been a while, you're looking good" then his eyes moved to Yuri. All his men knew about his Lolita Complex. The Reikaku bandits couldn't anything to help Koji and Yuri because they feared for their lives know that Eiken was in control. He got closer to her

"I'm going to enjoy having you around" he lascivious gaze went to her legs going up her breasts and looking at her face. Eiken took a step closer to her. Yuri thought this was the ugliest man alive. The closer he got the more disgusted Yuri felt.

"You come any closer and I'll bust your ass." Eiken laughed at her assuming that Yuri wouldn't be able to fight him if she tried. He ignored her threat and said

"Shan told me not too touch you but not while he's around" with more desperation than anger Yuri raised her foot in the air kicking Eiken in the face. He landed hard on the ground. Koji wanted too laugh but there was nothing funny in this situation being captured by bandits.

"BITCH!"

Eiken's temper got loose as he grabbed his knife attempting to kill Yuri with it but since Shan gave him orders not to kill her yet he raised his fist in the air and hit Yuri cruelly in the face. Yuri was unconscious with blood falling from her lower lip. Koji's nostrils flared

"You dirty Bastard" Koji was trying to reach Eiken having the urge of breaking every bone in his body. Eiken just laughed at Koji enjoying his anger. There was nothing he could do.

"Genjitsu Shinzarou!" wolves came out attacking the bandits. That's when the red haired man came out of nowhere. Koji was glad to see Genrou again, but he reacted quickly by attacking the bandits. Koji ran to Yuri carring her in his arms while Genrou attacking the rest of the bandits. Even Kedorikku and Hansu attacked him, but as Genrou moved swiftly they missed him and the blows landed on them as they fell to the ground. Koji and Genrou got away disappearing back into the forest. Eiken was expecting for Genrou to challenge him back for the boss position.

"I'll get you Genrou you hear me?"

**Yay! Genrou comes to the rescue. Now that Eiken has taken control of the Mt. Reikaku bandits they'll have cook up a new plan to defeat Shan and Eiken? Dying to find out. Chapter is uploaded and ready to go. I feel so dumb for erasing my own story.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Go Genrou! Here's chapter 10 everyone. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 10**

Genrou and Koji were running deeper in to the forest. When they looked behind them to see nobody was following they stopped. Koji held Yuri in his arms still not waking up from the punch Eiken gave her. A bruise was already forming on her right cheek and there's no doubt that it would be purple or yellow. Genrou was furious because Eiken had taken the tessen away. Koji's only concern was Yuri who still wouldn't wake up.

"That no good bastard left her cheek swollen" Genrou wasn't paying attention to the girl although he was looking at her

"That's why having a woman around makes the job more difficult" Koji knew Genrou's dislike for women.

"To be honest she ruined my plan of ambushing them. But she did take me out from that place so we could find you and get some help."

"Looks like you came too late" Genrou said with disappointment

"What do we do know?" Koji asked

"Let's go back to our other hide out and we'll plan something" they decided to keep on walking but not before a bark was heard. Koji knew it was Yuri's dog.

"Wait Genrou"

"What are you doing?" he saw Koji going to the tree. Momo came out from the tree happy to see Yuri but he started growling at Koji

"That dog still hates me" Koji said. When the dog got near Genrou he didn't growl at him. Koji was incredulous. Genrou petted the dog as he wagged his tail.

"Guess I'm good with animals" he picked up the dog and Momo relaxed. Then the tree broke and Yuri's bag came out. Genrou picked up the back pack wondering what was inside.

"Her things are in there, let's get out before those goof balls follow us" Koji and Genrou ran off in search of finding their hideout.

As soon as they got to there hideout they opened the doors and closed them right away. Koji placed Yuri on the floor hoping she would wake up. Genrou took of his blue coat and started lighting a candle. Momo went to Yuri's side to sit down.

"Where did you find her?" Genrou asked

"I found her trying to sneak inside the Neshou hideout. I stopped her but she stubbornly went inside getting into trouble." Genrou was angry inside because his planned hadn't worked and his men also turned against him all because of a fan that threw fire.

Koji also talked about how they escaped and went to Mt. Reikaku. He also told her about Yuri and how she knew those Neshou bandits. Genrou was confused because Yuri was from Konan but she was wearing different clothes.

"Sorcerer?" he asked

"Yeah she told me about that old wise woman, do you believe she actually met the ruler of this world?"

"I don't know. She could be lying but remember not to trust her too much or else there could be more trouble." Koji started talking to him about her childhood and how her father was murdered by bandits. Genrou was furious to hear that something like that could happen to a kid. Koji continued

"And know she wants to get revenge on him by killing him" Genrou knew the bastard deserved to be punished for what he did but no matter how cruel the person he had his honor and wouldn't bring himself to kill someone.

"She needs help Genrou and we are the only ones who could do it"

"Yeah after living like that I guess we could teach those bastards a lesson" but all Genrou wanted to do is fight those stupid bandits to get his Tessen back. He was convinced that Yuri needed help but the problem was that in his opinion the girl would interfere with his plan. Genrou had an idea

"Lock the girl inside here so we can handle those bandits ourselves" Koji wanted to protest but nodded. They didn't have any food right now so Koji decided to go outside and find some food they could eat before they started attacking. Koji had forced Genrou to stay and keep an eye on the girl but he didn't want to so Koji tricked him and he left right away. Genrou went to Yuri looking at her bruise. It was taking a long time for her to wake up. At first Genrou thought she was dead but when he saw her twitching her fingers and trying to open her eyes he just waited and watched as she came back to life. She got up sitting on the ground. When Yuri opened her eyes she thought she was dreaming. There was a red hair man in front of her and Yuri got startled and she raised her fist in the air punching him hard on the jaw. Genrou landed on the ground. When he got up he gave her a hard glare cursing

"You crazy woman, what do you think you're doing?" Yuri didn't know whether she was safe or not but she didn't know who this fellow was.

"Trying to get away from you" she started for the door but when she heard a bark she saw Momo he ran to her barking. She got Momo and but she still glared at the young man in front of her.

"Don't try running off" was all he said

"Who are you?"

"You want to know that badly?"

"Yes"

"My name is Genrou and I'm the boss of the Reikaku bandits" Yuri didn't want to hear anymore from him. He was a bandit and she coolly turned around to grab her bag and started opening the door. Genrou grabbed her arm to stop her

"Let go of me!"

"Stay put"

"Says who?" she countered. Genrou was already pissed off and Yuri was waiting for an answer. Koji was right Genrou thought she really is stubborn.

"Look, either you stay in here or I'll tie you up" but then again so was Genrou.

"You wouldn't dare" she huffed but he got closer. He picked her up like a sac grabbing her. Yuri fought back hitting him on the back. Even her bites were critical blows.

"Ow!" he dropped her. Yuri was on the floor. Genrou didn't make any attempt to grab her anymore.

"Stupid Girl" he said. "You won't even listen to reason, if you stay I'll tell you why you're here."

"Intimidating me won't help" Yuri said. This bandit was so annoying to her. It wasn't worth it to argue with him. When Genrou didn't say anything he just sat down across from where she was standing. Should I trust him? Yuri thought. He is a bandit and they murderer people. But he didn't look like he would murder anyone. She turned her back to him. Sitting down across from her Genrou started speaking to her

"Are you gonna listen to me or keep your back in front of me?"

"Both" she said stubbornly

"Women" he muttered. After a moment of silence they heard a knock from the door.

"Knock, Knock who's there, its Koji here with some food, okay then come on in." he opened the door and he was glad that Yuri was finally awake. Yuri was more than glad to see Koji.

"Koji I thought you those bandits were hurting you" she sounded worried.

"I just got some food for us your okay now Yuri we got away from Reikaku thanks to my friend here" he had some rice balls with beef and fish. She wasn't paying attention to Genrou. Not even looking at his face. Yuri was very hungry.

"Thank you Koji" she said as she went to him. Koji looked at Genrou with amusement because he noticed his glare right away. He turned to Yuri and asked

"So Yuri did Genrou treat you well while I was gone?" Koji said with some humor since he knew how Genrou was around with girls. Yuri took a moment to answer

"I guess" was all she said. Genrou pretended to ignore her but he felt that Yuri held a great dislike for him.

"Let's just eat I'm hungry" he said moving aside from both Koji and Yuri. Koji couldn't hide his smile as he saw Genrou turn around to eat by himself. Yuri wanted to know if Koji was a bandit

"Hey Koji are you a bandit?" he was a bit surprised because he thought she figured it out.

"Yeah I am." Yuri did suspect he was a bandit. She said to herself that bandits were unworthy people that just murdered people. Yuri thought Koji was a very kind person but what about that red hair guy? Koji broke of the silence

"So Yuri you like your meal?" Yuri was enjoying it like it was heaven

"Its delicious thank you" she turned to the red hair bandit and said seriously

"How did you become boss?" Genrou turned around to see Yuri waiting for an answer.

"After I was away on a trip I was chosen by the old boss but unfortunately he died before I got the chance to see him one more time" Yuri didn't know what to say although it was sad when she heard him.

"He's a great leader and good with the sword he also has a…" Genrou gave him a warning glare. Koji stopped talking.

"During the time you were over there with…her" he gestured at Yuri "my men were planning to go help but it was taking a long time for you to come back. I decided to go by myself. When I left the tessen that fat pig Eiken came to take it away threatening my men that he would kill them if they didn't obey his command. I managed to get away." He took out papers. Yuri asked

"What are those for?" curiosity spread through her

"These papers were given to me by a sorcerer. They create illusions of any kind if you write something on them." Yuri went to Momo feeding him some of her rice balls. He barked with satisfaction as he was eating. The red head liked the dog. Then Genrou asked Yuri a question

"What's the name of the dog?"

"Momo" she answered without looking at him. Genrou almost laugh because of the name.

"Something funny?" she asked

"Almost, why did you call him Momo?"

"Because I like peaches" Genrou didn't say anymore. Koji changed the subject

"While the old boss was around he trained with Genrou hard everyday giving him lectures on becoming a good swords man. Later on the boss got sick and Genrou went to get some medicine for him only by the time he came back he had died." Yuri thought it was a sad story.

"That's why I want to get the tessen back, I can't believe that son of a bitch set me up and turned my own men against me."

"We'll get him Genrou" Koji said with a grin

"Which reminds me" Yuri said as Koji and Genrou turned to her "My friends are still trapped over that Neshou Hideout" Genrou said with a hard tone

"You're staying here"

"No I'm not, if my friends are trapped then it's my responsibility to help them, I promised I would come back"

"Your friends are trapped with those slobs?" Genrou asked

"Yes, and if we don't hurry up they are going to sell them and…" Yuri didn't want to go on because she knew what those men were capable off. Every man in that house hold would abuse the girls. Koji got up cheerfully

"Okay Yuri let's go save your friends" he got up getting his sword ready. Yuri was satisfied that she got her way. Genrou gave Koji a glare

"What's your reason for killing Shan?" Yuri ignored him. The red head was getting frustrated but he wanted to know and hear the answer straight from her

"At least answer me"

"No"

"You really want to get tied up" Genrou said getting boiled up

"Just as much as you want to get cooked in a pan" Yuri said feeling confident. There really was dislike for this bandit. Koji seemed more preferable to Yuri.

"Idiot" he muttered. They left the hideout taking Momo with her. The dog was walking behind Yuri. Genrou had something to say

"Did you have to bring the dog too?"

"Yeah I thought he could come in handy for sticky situations" Momo wagged his tail to Genrou. Yuri was surprised that the dog liked Genrou better than Koji.

"We'll I'll be…" The dog got close to Genrou

"I wonder why Momo doesn't like you Koji" Yuri said as Genrou picked up Momo and started petting him. Somehow the dog made Genrou feel better.

"Dogs aren't my kind of animal" Koji said dryly

"Aren't you glad we brought him?" Yuri asked looking at Genrou

"Yeah but I wish you weren't here"

"And I wish you wouldn't complain so much" Yuri said

"I'm not Complaining"

"Yes you are"

"No"

"Yes"

"No"

"Yes"

Genrou's angrily looked at her "You are the most stupid person I met. I don't think our plan is going to work if you keep endangering yourself for no reason."

Yuri's temper matched his "That's it! I've had it with you; I'm capable of saving my friends on my own without your help." Yuri ran off leaving them. Genrou stood there in silence kind of regretting what he said. Koji gave him a hard look

"What?"

"You know what" Koji stated flatly

"I'm gonna find her" Genrou said feeling guilty

"Wise choice" Koji said enjoying his guilt

Yuri disappeared leaving Koji and Genrou behind. They ran after her trying to find her.

Back at the Neshou hideout Serin and her friends were still inside waiting for Yuri to return soon. At first she wasn't sure if Yuri would ever come. But getting mad at her wouldn't help. As Serin was sitting down on the floor Erein came over next to her.

"Don't worry I know Yuri is on her way" Erein said feeling sure

"It's been a while, I wonder if she's okay." Serin wasn't nearly as sure

"When it comes to Yuri we don't know what will happen" while Serin and Erein were sitting down on the floor Kiana and Kuana were trying to open the window but after several attempts like hitting it and finding something that looked like a weapon it was already broken. Kuana started laughing

"Now that Yuri broke the roof we've managed to do a lot of damage to all the stuff here"

"At least we opened the window" Kiana said "Now let's get outta here" Serin and Erein got closer to the window.

"Got any rope?" Serin asked

"I don't see any" Kiana said. As they were close to the window they heard the door being open. The two bandits who had taken the girls to the room had come. Ru-su took out his sword furiously

"You're not getting away"

Nikorasu went behind Ru-su making sure the girls wouldn't get away. When they were surrounded Kiana had accidentally pushed Kuana towards the window. Kuana gasped as she fell down landing on the ground. With Horror on her eyes Kiana started whimpering

"Kuana where are you?" Serin stood in front of Erein while Kiana was looking out the window.

At the bottom of the ground Kuana came out from the bushes. Kiana looked and found her twin sister alive.

Erein looked down the window and said to Kuana

"Go find Yuri!" Kuana nodded quickly and ran off. Nikorasu grabbed Serin by the shirt

"Looks like you're ready to be sold" he said as he pointed the knife in her throat making her move towards the door. Ru-su took care of Erein and Kiana placing them in front of him. As they walked down the room they hoped Kuana would find Yuri soon.

Yuri lost sight of both Koji and Genrou as she got closer to Mt. Hoku. She passed a few homes and went to look for the big house surrounded by trees. When she was walking towards the same path she saw a figure running closer to her. It was Kuana! Yuri ran to her as Kuana yelled her name

"Kuana I'm so glad you're okay" Yuri grabbed her shoulders

"Serin, Erein, Kiana are going to be sold to some men" Yuri reacted quickly and said

"What are we waiting for let's go" they ran together searching for the big Neshou hideout.

Genrou and Koji were running as fast as they could, trying to find Yuri. Koji was already getting impatient. Momo was following Genrou

"Let's hope she's okay" Koji said

"I'm sure she's fine"

"Easy for you to say"

"Let's go" he said as they neared Mt. Hoku

"Feeling guilty?" Koji asked

"No"

"Doesn't sound to convincing" Koji said making Genrou feeling angry

"Koji just shut up"

"If you think Yuri is pretty than go on and say it, I think she's the most perfect…" Koji stopped because Genrou was already glaring

"You don't think so?"

"I'm not blind" Genrou said dryly

"Then you do like her" Koji

"I don't like her"

"Sure Genrou" Koji was having so much fun in this conversation. It ended when they were passing by some houses in Mt. Hoku. It was still dark. They turned right viewing a bigger house. The hideout came into view and they got into the bushes.

Meanwhile

Yuri and Kuana were on the opposite side of the building trying to look for the room they were in before. As they looked they could hear footsteps coming close to them. Yuri and Kuana ran away but they got closer. Yuri and Kuana stopped and waited. There was no voice sound coming from the shadows appearing. When Yuri got her foot ready Genrou came out from the corner. The foot connected with Genrou's stomach as he was launched to crash on a tree. Koji came out smiling as he threw a sword for Yuri. They all looked at Genrou as he got up and got closer to Yuri.

"Crazy Brat you could at least wait to see who it is before you kicked my ass!"

"How was I suppose to know that was you" Yuri said

"Want to see how good I can kick" Genrou threatened towering over her. They were glaring at each other but Koji separated them. Kuana looked at the bandits. Yuri decided to make introductions

"Koji and Genrou this is Kuana" Kuana smiled at them and they curtly nodded at her. Yuri was a bit annoyed that they had come to help. She was still mad at Genrou. Momo followed everyone as they made they looked on top and saw that there was a hole on the roof. Koji wondered who managed to dig a hole that deep. Kuana started laughing and everyone turned to look at her.

"I like the way you decorated the place Yuri" Kuana just cracked herself up as she fell down on the floor. They all ignored her turning around. Kuana got up quickly catching up to them. Koji asked Yuri

"Wonder how you did that?"

"Punched it jumped and punched it some more" Genrou just looked at the hole amazed at the damaged Yuri had done to the roof.

"That's the room my friends were locked in" Yuri said as she pointed at the hole. That's when Yuri jumped up in the air leaving her friends behind. Genrou yelled at her

"Hey get down from there!"

"I'll look for Serin, Erein, and Kiana you guys try to get to the front" she disappeared. Genrou wouldn't stop glaring.

"She's going to get herself in more trouble" Genrou said as he started running down as Koji and Kuana ran after him. Koji went to Genrou saying

"I didn't know you cared" Koji said edging him on

Genrou didn't say a word. What a stubborn guy Koji thought.

Yuri was inside the room to find it empty. Too late Yuri thought as she sneaked out of the room and walked as quietly as she could. She could hear men laughing. Yuri found two men behind her and she turned around fast to raise her foot and kick both of them at the same time in the face. They fell to the ground with their jaws bleeding. She ran past a few rooms and ran straight to the hall

Koji, Kuana, and Genrou had already made their way through the kitchen knocking every bastard that tried to attack them.

"Is that all of them?" Kuana asked in a soft voice. All the girls dropped the food and went to the three of them

"Looks like you don't need the Tessen after all" Koji said as he saw Genrou standing there expecting for Eiken to come out.

"Wait till that fat ball comes out" Genrou gritted his fangs waiting there. Kuana was talking to one of the pretty girls with purple hair.

"Have you seen girls with different clothing?"

The purple haired girl hesitated "I only saw two of them escape"

Erein and Kiana were running across the rooms as they were being chased by two hideous bandits. Kiana was slower than Erein so she got left behind. There was a crack on the floor and Kiana slipped as Erein turned around to reach for Kiana's hand. A dark haired bandit got Kiana's ankle and started dragging her closer to him. The other bandit grabbed Erein and she bit him as a distraction while she tried to reach for Kiana. They stopped when Eiken started walking in front of them.

"You can't even handle two girls" the bandit didn't say anything for fear of getting burned. Eiken came closer to the girls as the bandits held them.

"Tell me where the other girl is" Erein closed her eyes

"What girl?" she asked pretending to sound stupid. Eiken gave her a slap. Erein's face turned sideways as it she felt the pain of his hand had connected with her face.

"You know who she is one with black hair blue eyes"

"What if I don't tell you" Erein went on. He started giving her an evil grin

"It's either a cliff dropping or some fun with me" he said to scare her. Kiana

"I don't know where she is as you remembered that she escaped" Erein made Eiken looked like a dumb mule. But he gave some orders right away

"Prepare my horse we'll be taking the girls to one of the highest mountains of Mt. Reikaku."

"But Shan said to keep them alive" one of the bandits said

"Now that I got the tessen he won't be ordering me around, you two better do as I say unless" he raised the fan flashing it at the two men. They quickly reacted in taking the girls away.

Serin was banging the door trying to find a way to get out. Nikorasu had taken his shirt off as he was getting closer to the girl. Serin turned around trying to get away from him. Serin yelled Yuri's name and the bandit's face wrinkled as he gagged her with a cloth and forced her on the bed. Serin's dark brown hair was spilled around the bed as the bandit gave a look of satisfaction that he had hurt her so she wouldn't move so much.

"Your mine now" he whispered in her ear. Serin's struggles weren't working. Serin couldn't speak. "Yuri, Yuri, help me" she said in her mind. As her tears were coming down the bandit started taking her shirt off.

Genrou had heard a loud scream coming from upstairs.

"Damm it!" he ran upstairs leaving Kuana and Koji behind.

"It's probably Yuri" Kuana said as she started walking away. Koji grabbed her arm

"Let Genrou take care of it"

The girls were happy that they were free. They thanked Koji.

"Thank you for saving us, I wish there was some way we could repay you" the purple haired girl said

"None is necessary" Koji said. When the purple haired girl left with her sisters back to their families they heard a bark from outside. Momo was growling at the forest. Kuana went to Momo

"What is it boy?" she asked. The dog just ran off in to the forest. Kuana chased after him and Koji yelled her name calling her back. But he followed her instead to keep her away from danger.

Yuri heard a scream not to long ago. She ran across the room trying to find where the noise came from. Then Genrou came from another part of the hall and collided with Yuri. They both landed on the ground.

"What a surprise to see you here" Yuri said as she got up rubbing her head.

"Same here I thought I heard you scream"

"That wasn't me it was probably one of my friends" she kept on running and Genrou sighed as he followed her. There were so many rooms that it would be hard to find who ever yelled. Genrou told Yuri to stop.

"I hear something" he said as he placed his ear on the door. He took a few steps back and ran towards the door slamming it with all his might.

He broke the door and found a bandit on top of a brown haired girl. Yuri immediately took action in taking him down. Nikorasu got off the girl and he grabbed his sword quickly trying to kill her. Their swords clashed and they were battling it off while Genrou stood there annoyed

"Why am I standing her watching her take all the fun?" when Yuri went down with the sword pointed at her heart Genrou surprised the bandit by stabbing him in the back. He fell on the ground as the blood was on the floor. Yuri got away from him quickly. She went to Serin and took of the cloth that had been on her mouth. Serin was unconscious as Yuri hugged her tightly. Genrou just stood there and watched.

"I'm sorry Serin, I'm so sorry" she whispered softly. When Serin's eyes opened slowly she woke up with a surprise to find Yuri by her side.

"Yuri you came back" Yuri was hugged back

"I did promise you after all"

"It was so horrible did he…"

"No" Serin was so glad that the rotten bandit hadn't raped her. She got up quickly and saw a red haired man standing in front of her. Serin thought he was the most handsome guy she had ever seen. She blushed and turned to Yuri.

"Do you know where the others are at?" Yuri asked

"Before Erein and Kiana were taken to be sold I heard from the door way about some Mt. Reikaku mountains" Genrou started talking back to Serin

"Did you hear anything else?" Serin shook her head kind of blushing at him as he looked at her. Genrou started heading for the door.

"Let's go I think your friends were taken to the cliffs" Yuri and Serin were filled with concerned thinking about their friend's danger. They got out when they heard some arguing going on. Shan and Eiken were yelling at each other. Tasuki, Yuri and Serin were at the corners listening. They heard Shan say

"You idiot you let all the girls escape!"

"At least I still have two of them"

"I should off never made a deal with a fucked up muffled brain like you" Shan said

"Another Idiot I have to get rid off" Shan said as he grabbed his sword to so he could finish him off.

Eiken was so angry that he raised his Tessen in the air causing fire to spread through the whole floor. Shan got fire all over his body moving every where panicking. He jumped out the window. Yuri and Serin gasped. Genrou was in shock. But then they realized that the whole hideout had gotten on fire.

"Let's get outta here" Tasuki said as the girls followed him. He leaded them through a room. There was no escape.

"Now what do we do?" Yuri said frustrated. Genrou looked for some rope and tied it to a barrel. Serin was scared to go down so Yuri told Genrou to help her get down. They successfully made it down and Yuri was left. Genrou yelled

"What are you waiting for?" Yuri looked back and saw the room was about to explode. Instead of going down the rope she didn't have time to successfully jump so she fell down back wards falling on her back. Yuri laid on the ground for a few moments. Genrou and Serin ran to her.

"Yuri, are you okay?" Serin asked with concern.

"Yeah I'm okay" Yuri said with a smile. Genrou looked at her with amazement. She's nuts. He thought

"You must be crazy" he said

"I guess I am" Yuri said with a smile. Genrou left the girls.

"Where he go?" Yuri asked. They followed him and saw that he had found some horses.

Yuri and Serin got on one horse while Genrou tried struggled trying to tame the horse. The horse almost kicked him as he fell on the ground. Yuri heard Genrou curse and she started laughing.

"And I thought Bandits were the best horse riders, what's with you and animals Genrou?" Yuri asked. Genrou frowned at her saying

"For a girl you sure have a big mouth" he commented as they rode off to Mt. Reikaku.

Koji and Kuana were tired of following Momo. They have climbed the mountain and gotten on top of Mt. Reikaku. Koji was complaining

"Does he even know where he's going?"

"Let's wait and see" Kuana said and kept on following Momo. They got to the higher cliffs and after what seemed like hours of climbing they quickly hid behind a tree to see three men dismounting their horses grabbing both Erein and Kiana. Kuana panicked and made an attempt to move. Koji stopped her and told her to stay behind the bushes while took care of them. One of the shadows came out as Eiken as he waved his Tessen to the girls getting them to the edge of the drop.

"Hey Eiken" Eiken and his turned around to see Koji ready to fight them.

"Let go of the girls"

"You're to late Koji and if you try a single move you won't be seeing them again" Koji just stood there frozen not knowing what to do. I can't just fight him Koji thought I feel useless. Eiken just taunted him.

Genrou was ridding a horse as Yuri and Serin were on the other one. It was a long climb to the Mt. Reikaku cliffs. They got of the horses as soon as they got closer to the drop. Genrou had assisted in helping out Serin as she kept on falling to the ground. "Oh what a gentlemen" Yuri thought sarcastically. She knew Genrou was no gentlemen. He was about the most obnoxious man there could be not that there many. When they were finally at the top they saw Koji standing in front of Eiken not making a move to attack him. Genrou went to the bushes and when he saw a girl coming out to smile at them he got startled

"Aaahh!" Kuana was happy to see Serin and Yuri.

"You guys are okay!" she looked at her friends and saw that they had fallen to the ground. Serin was really startled

"You scared years of my life doing that" she was mad at the moment but Yuri wasn't paying for Genrou was looking at Koji.

"We have to do something" Yuri said as she looked at Genrou. He looked at her and said simply

"Let's wait" Yuri was baffled looking at Erein and Kiana who were at the edge of the cliff. She glared at Genrou and made her march. He made a quick movement and grabbed her arm

"Are you crazy you can't go in there, I'll go" he started marching but Yuri got in his way moving first to stand next to Koji. He turned around to see Yuri and Genrou and the dog of course and two other girls behind the bushes. Eiken eyed Genrou

"Came back to get your Tessen?" he started laughing believing he didn't have a chance

"Yeah I came for that and to kick you fat ass" Eiken pointed the fan at the girls

"You move once and I'll burn these girls and throw them down the cliff" Yuri looked at him with such hatred she wanted to murder him. Eiken then looked at Yuri with a perverted grin

"If you give me that girl I'll let these two go" he taunted but Genrou flared all off a sudden scaring Yuri and Koji

"Try taking her and you'll see what my sword can do to you" Yuri was a bit surprised to hear that and Genrou didn't feel embarrassed. Yuri wanted to go and rescue her friends. Then she thought of an idea. She ran off to Eiken standing in front of him.

"Yuri!" Koji yelled. Genrou didn't know what to do. He was angry at her for trying to do something stupid as she gave in

"Alright Eiken you can take me and release my friends." Eiken gave her a suspicious look but he let go of the girls as Koji went to help them out. Kiana thought it was a stupid move for Yuri to do. Erein was in tears trying to calm herself down. "Stupid Baka" Genrou thought. When the two bandits grabbed Yuri she stomped her foot on top of the bandit's foot. He kneeled on the ground trying to reach her. She got away from the other bandit as she gave him a punch in the face. Eiken's rage came and he raised his Tessen

"Reikka Shien!" Yuri was shocked as the fire almost reached her but then someone moved her and she landed on the ground with strong arms holding her tightly. It was Genrou on top of Yuri. Genrou gave her a look of concern

"What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me indeed" Yuri said sarcastically. Genrou looked at her face wondering why she was acting like that. Women can be so moody he thought. He started noticing everything. Then he noticed that tears were coming out of her eyes. Her blue sapphire eyes sparkled with Tears and Genrou couldn't take his eyes off for one second. Damm she looked beautiful when she cried. God why the hell I'm thinking like that? Genrou felt ashamed for bringing that thought to his mind.

"Genrou?" Yuri said as brushed her tears away.

"What?" he said

"Get off me!" "Jeez" he thought "I don't even get thanks for saving her ass" he got of her but he blushed slightly as he got off her.

Eiken interrupted them by waving his fan. Genrou took out his sword dodging the fire from Eiken. He was really fast and moved fast enough to knock Eiken on the ground. He dropped the Tessen on the ground. Eiken was about to make a move to get it when Genrou pointed the sword at his nose.

"Spare me"

"Why should I do that?" Genrou asked the coward

"Come on Genrou I saved your ass when you were in trouble it wouldn't be fair to kill someone like that"

"I believe you only saved me for interest" he said sternly

Yuri walked to get the Tessen. She was pretty close to the edge of the cliff. As Genrou turned to look at Yuri Eiken kicked him running to get the Tessen. As he ran to where Yuri was they accidentally fell down the cliff. To Genrou's horror Yuri screamed as Eiken dropped with her disappearing. Genrou was shocked to see that she was gone. Koji couldn't believe his eyes, Serin and Kuana were with there eyes open. Erein and Kiana couldn't even say a word. Then a crying Kiana emerged.

"Why did she do it?"

Genrou ran to the edge trying to see if she was alive. He called out her name but no response came. He pretended not to look sad but it was impossible. Koji stood there looking at Genrou's back. Kuana walked to the edge of the cliff

"Yuri! Yuri, please say anything" Kuana closed her eyes hoping to hear her voice. Kiana was in tears. Erein just stared at the cliff.

At the bottom of the cliff Yuri was hanging on to a branch. It was breaking slowly and Yuri needed to think of an idea fast. When she had dropped with Eiken he had fallen further. Yuri stood as still as possible but not even her stilled position was stopping the branch from ripping. Then there was another branch on top of her. Problem was it was far away. "I hope jumping can help me on this" Yuri thought. There were cuts on her arms and legs and a long slash behind her back that had dried.

"It's now or never" Yuri said as she let go of the branch and jumped in the air. Her hand stretched out to the grab it. It was not enough and Yuri could feel herself falling backwards. "Damm I can't die now." The fall seemed endless but then the ground came into view. "This is it" Yuri thought as she was going to die. Then a glowing mark appeared at the side of her stomach. It was the same blue mark that had appeared when she saved Adara. She closed her eyes and thought she was dead. When she opened her eyes slowly there was only a few inches left of reaching the ground. Yuri was floating in the air. Amazed by this she straightened herself up and touched the ground with her feet. Yuri raised herself in the air. Well at least the mark hadn't disappeared. Then as she started practicing on her flying she crashed a few times into a big boulder

"Ouch" Yuri whispered as she landed on the ground. A few minutes later when she got up she walked pass the boulder and saw Eiken lying on the ground. Yuri went to see if he was dead. His head was cracked as the blood was on the ground. His body was kind of twisted in an ugly way. Yuri turned around not wanting to see the body. What's done is done. He had been a sick no good bastard. He deserved what he got.

"I need to go up" she looked up from where she had fallen. "Come on Yuri you can do it, you can do it" she continued whispering and as soon as she was in the air again she went straight up the cliff. "Whoa I'm flying" Yuri thought excitedly. In one of her dreams as a child she used to dream that she would be able to fly someday. Yuri continued flying as the mark stayed on her stomach.

Genrou was still standing there having some hope left that Yuri was still alive. She was as brave as any girl he'd seen but Damm! She's out of her mind. Serin went to Koji. His eyes were sad

"I should off kept a better eye on her" Serin knew it wasn't his fault

"It's not your fault" Kuana was still calling her name. Serin went to her getting annoyed

"While you stop it, she can't hear you, she's gone, dead" Serin's words were horrible to hear. Kuana looked at her angrily

"You always lose hope for everything" Then they heard a noise coming from the bottom of the cliff. Erein smiled knowing that it would Yuri coming out. A much alive Yuri flew out of the cliff changing her friend's expressions. Koji was relived and Genrou was glad although his face didn't show concern. Yuri was looking at her friends from the bottom. She descended slowly to see her friends running to hug her.

"You're alive!" Kiana said

"I never doubted you" Kuana said

"Were glad to have you back" Erein said in her cheerful tone

"You scared all of us half to death, but at least you're okay" Serin said. Yuri didn't want her friends to worry. Momo ran to Yuri wagging his tail.

"Momo! How's my brave canine?" the dog barked as an answer

"Come on you think that I can die that easily?"

"Yeah and next time think before you act" Genrou said with his usual temper. Yuri ignored him and went to Koji seeing his worried face. Yuri ignored him and went to Koji.

"Shan got burned with the Tessen and jumped out the window with his body on fire" Yuri said with a shaky voice

"He's Toast" Koji said with a grin.

"I wonder if he's dead." Yuri said. Koji nodded to her

"Nobody can survive a burn from the Tessen especially if he jumped out the window with his body all burned up"

"I guess you're right" Yuri said still not feeling sure. Genrou interrupted them.

"Hey you two will you stop talking already" Yuri looked at him and smiled

"Yes your highness" Yuri said sarcastically

"You seriously want to start a fight with me" Genrou said crossing his arms across his chest.

"No but ordering me around won't help in the least" Yuri said. She started feeling a little weak but ignored it.

"But talking out here in the middle of the night won't help either" Yuri glared at him. She took his Tessen away and he looked at her and glared hard.

"Give that back you Idiot"

"No" she said.

"Alright you want to fight?" he asked with gritted teeth. He grabbed her arms and dislodged the Tessen from her grip. Then he pushed her on the ground. He started grinning at her. Yuri couldn't stop glaring as he saw his smile.

"I won't be pushed around" Yuri said as she leaped at him pushing him down on the ground. Koji looked at them in amusement. Genrou tried blocking her fists but she managed to punch him in the face once. Her head moved as her hair landed on his nose. Genrou couldn't help but smell the sweetness of it. It smelled like flowers. But Yuri's friends were watching. Serin was with her mouth opened thinking. These two wouldn't make a great couple since they can't stand each other. Kiana and Kuana giggled and Erein just observed with a slight smile. To hide his blush Genrou said

"Stop fighting or else I'll break your arms." Yuri felt a sharp pain and fell on Genrou. He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at the wound behind her back as it oozed with blood. Genrou's eyes were wide eyed as he told Koji

"Let's go NOW!" he said urgently as Koji picked her up.

"She's lost blood" Her friends were concerned. Koji gave them all a smile.

"Don't worry she'll be treated" he said as he picked her up. There were the three horses that the bandits have left. They were still lying unconscious. Genrou went to the horses quickly. Erein said she could ride a horse. Kiana carried Momo as she got on with Erein. Koji was on the other horse with Yuri's head on his chest. Genrou offered Serin and Kuana to get behind him. They rode down the mountain of Reikaku.

Mt. Hoku (Old Dirty House)

Shan was lying on the bed while Ru-su was treating his injuries. That slime ball Eiken had betrayed him and taken his men. He lost everything. Shan also wanted to get Yuri and kill her.

"There" Ru-su said as he bandaged his head. He really was attractive Ru-su thought.

"I've lost all my men all because of that hunk of dog shit" Ru-su wanted to tell him not to worry about that.

"Don't worry boss we'll find them" Shan knew he was ruined and couldn't win against the Mt. Reikaku bandits now that he lost all his defenses. He wondered why Ru-su was still sticking by his side. But at least it would be easy to manipulate him Shan thought. He would recover what he had before and get his revenge on Yuri and that stupid Red head bandit. He dismissed Ru-su and looked out his window

"I'll hunt you down Yuri" his voice was raised "Those fucking Mt. Reikaku bandits will pay" He had to start a new army of men and get his fortune back. It would take him a long time.

**Uh oh! Shan is alive. Well I'm uploading this chapter. Chapter 11 is ready to be read so go ahead and scroll. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Yay! Here's the chapter. Ready get set READ!**

**Chapter 11**

_Mt. Reikaku_

Koji and Yuri's friends had ridden down the mountain being lead by Genrou. They passed a few homes and had made it back to the Mt. Reikaku hideout. They dismounted their horses and the red head went inside followed by Koji and the girls. All his men were found inside talking until they felt Genrou's presence. Some of them looked at Genrou and some had there heads down as they were located at corners in the house. Genrou slowly walked inside ordering all his men to stand up. They all noticed Genrou was back in control because he had the Tessen in his grip. Hansu went closer to Genrou

"Boss we didn't mean to attack you" he said lamely. Kedorikku had gotten by Hansu's side. He was about the kneel down to Genrou when he was pulled up by him

"Genrou we are glad that your back and we couldn't but we tried and…" he was stammering

"You can start by helping out these girls and find them a room to stay in" he said. Hansu took action in taking the girls to a guest room while Koji looked down at Yuri.

"I'll go treat her injuries" he said and was about to go when Genrou stopped him

"I can do it" Koji smiled at him for a second and handed him Yuri. Genrou glared at him

"What are you smiling about?"

"Just wandering why you want to treat her injuries" Genrou flushed furiously not saying a word as he turned around carrying Yuri to the other room. He could hear Koji's bursting laughter.

There's something Genrou's not telling me Koji thought to himself. Maybe he cares for the girl. Although their meeting was pretty rough Genrou probably knows that he likes the girl although he argues with her. Kedorriku looked at Koji

"What are you thinking about?" Koji was dozed and could barely hear the grey haired man. Koji heard him repeat the question again and he looked at him

"Nothing Kedorikku, say is there anything you can cook up?" Kedorriku grinned at Koji

"Sure thing Koji" they both walked into the kitchen where other hungry bandits were waiting to be served.

Hansu had showed the girls a room they could sleep in. There were two beds and a candle. It seemed tidy enough. The girls smiled at the beds tired from their little adventure. They thanked Hansu and he asked

"Is there anything else you need?" he asked politely

"We're fine right now" Serin said. Hansu nodded and left closing the door behind him. Momo jumped on the bed curling inside the blankets. Kuana went to sit down where Momo laid

"Someone's ready for bed" Kuana petted him as he started sleeping. Serin went to the girls and said

"Well since there are two beds two of us are going to have to sleep on each bed. Kiana and Kuana you two sleep on that bed and Erein and I will sleep on this one."

Kuana started complaining

"I wish there was four beds" Kiana started getting inside with Momo and Kuana already inside.

"Ah man too bad I forgot my Pajamas" Kiana and Kuana said at the same time. Serin prepared the bed and looked at the twins

"You two stop complaining at least we got a room to sleep in"

"We need to brush our teeth also, I wonder if they even have bathrooms in this place?" Kiana said

"Will figure that out tomorrow right now I'm tired" Erein said putting the blanket on top as Serin got inside the bed. It was quiet but when Kuana started talking Kiana grabbed a pillow and started hitting her.

"I'm just wondering if Yuri is okay" Serin got up in a sitting position and gave Kuana a look of warmth

"I'm sure she's fine" Kuana had a good feeling from those words that she went down and hugged Momo. The dog tried getting out of her grasp and licked her in the face tickling her. She started giggling and Momo freed himself and went outside the blankets sleeping at the far side where Kiana and Kuana's toes were. A few minutes later after each of the girls were deep in thought of where they were and they fell asleep.

It was his fault for provoking her to get mad at him. He didn't fell guilty for getting her mad but he did want to treat her injuries so they wouldn't be infected. Genrou took Yuri inside another room pushing the door with his knee since he was carrying her. He went inside and placed her on the bed as he turned on a candle. He managed to get enough light as he found his medical supplies to treat her injuries. He hesitated as he wanted to pull her shirt to look at her angry mark behind her back. Probably she'll kick my ass if she saw me doing this. We'll he didn't want to wake her up right now so he decided that he was going to pull her shirt. Then he stopped his fingers when he saw a glowing mark at the side of her stomach. It was glowing blue. He frowned wondering who she was and why she was here. He would ask her about the mark.

Yuri was running away from some black creatures. Getting rid of them wasn't easy as she tried making several turns throughout the dark forest. It was like they know where she was going. Then she ran deeper into the woods and found an opening. There was a cliff and no where to run. She turned around and looked back at these evil creatures. Their eyes were glowing red. They could turn into any size and shape. Then they turned into liquid and got behind Yuri squeezing her so hard she couldn't breath. "Get off me" "Ai-mu, Bao-zhi" she was moving violently until she slipped and fell down the cliff. The ground came into view and she was about to die…

Genrou stayed there with his eyes wide open. "What's happening?" he kneeled down on the bed noticing the sweat on her face and her breathing had quickened. He grabbed her fast by the shoulders trying to wake her up

"Wake up," no response "Damm it wake up!" Yuri flung herself in his arms waking up from nightmare. Genrou held her for a moment. About 30 seconds later she realized she had hugged the red haired fang boy. She let go of him feeling embarrassed and Genrou just stood there waiting for her to say something. She didn't look up at him so she turned around and crossed her arms trying to ignore the pain behind her back.

"Don't you have anything to say?" he asked

"No I don't think I should say anything to you" Genrou was doing good so far. He didn't want to loose his patience

"It'll make you feel better if you talk"

"No I don't want to talk" she decided to get off the bed. She managed to do that but fell on the ground. Yuri stood up with her legs shaking a little. Genrou was starting to get mad but decided not to argue so she wouldn't hurt herself.

"You should learn to look out for yourself" he said. Yuri looked up at him smiling

"I have proved that already, after that drop from the cliff I managed to…" she looked up at him. Why is he smiling "Oh very clever Genrou but I'm not going to answer you" she got up and started heading for the door.

"Where are my friends at?"

"Don't worry over it they are in another room?" Yuri glared for a moment

"You think I'm keeping them hostages in here" Yuri remained silent "We are in my place so you don't have to struggle this time to rescue your friends"

"Where's Koji?" she asked

"He's somewhere I guess probably eating in the kitchen with my other men." Then he noticed her big sized cut started bleeding again.

"Hey stop moving!" he went to her and looked at her cut

"You made it bleed again" he said angrily.

"It'll be okay I can treat it myself"

"How can you move your arms backwards and place that medical stuff behind your back?"

"I can try" she said

"Here how about I do it for you" Yuri hated when other people thought she was too weak to treat herself

"I can take care of it"

"Wouldn't count on it" he said as he motioned her to the bed "want to see all that salve land in the wrong place?" Yuri huffed giving up. Genrou was satisfied that he'd gotten her to sit down. Then he grabbed his medical supplies. His hands went to her shirt and Yuri turned around and gave him a death glare

"Don't try pulling my shirt" Genrou sighed hard

"Look this is the only way I can treat you're injury" Yuri didn't want to show him anything.

"No" she retorted

"You really want to argue over this?" Genrou asked slightly amused

"No but I want you to leave me alone" Yuri hissed

"Not until I see the cut"

"You won't see the cut and that's final" Genrou crossed his arms over his chest frowning at Yuri

"I'm not a rapist and if you think that I'm capable of that you're wrong because I don't even like women"

"So you're gay?" she asked smiling

"NO!" he growled "Alright brat I'll promise you that I won't look any lower"

"Sure you can keep it?" Yuri raised her eyebrows

"I'll keep it because I want to and if you want to start an infection then it won't be my fault just because of your stubbornness" Yuri didn't trust him but she started giving in to him realizing that he was making a good point by preventing the cut from getting infected.

Yuri turned around and Genrou pulled her shirt up which gave him a view of her back and he saw the back of her bra attached to her body. She crossed her arms. Her injury was on her upper back and he started working. Genrou didn't have any problem removing some of the small pieces of wood that had were inside the cut. She would wince when he placed some Salve inside the wound. He focused on his task not looking lower. Yuri wasn't sure if he was looking but he was doing a good job at helping her wound from getting severely infected. I can't believe I let him do that. She thought. To her bandits were low life jerks and here she was getting treated by one. Maybe she didn't trust him but she did know that he would care when someone was hurt. After 10 minutes of carefully treating it he grabbed cloths and used them as a bandage. But wait that would mean putting his arms around her while he bandaged the wound. Yuri turned around saying that she could wrap it herself. He let her have her way. It was already awkward as it is looking at her back. Genrou's neck was flushed. After she bandaged the wound securely around her Genrou turned around. She was really grateful that he had helped her with the injury. After that she decided to go for the door.

"Just get some rest" he said

"But I'm hungry" she said with her stomach rumbling

"Alright I'll get you something to eat"

"Why can't I go?"

"Probably they finished everything by now" she was disappointed but then she had an idea

"How about I cook something"

"You can cook?" Yuri frowned at him feeling insulted

"What you think I'm a spoiled brat that cooks worse than her mama" Genrou nodded

"Well you haven't seen anything yet" she grabbed the door and she walked a little fast although her cut still hurt. "It wasn't the food I'm afraid of" he said as he left behind her.

Koji and the men had finished all the food Kedorikku had cooked. All of them had dranked except for Koji who gave a few swings but didn't get completely drunk. Some of them were deeply drunk. Yuri opened the door and looked at all the men in the table. Some of them had fallen asleep and Koji just sat there smiling at all of them. Yuri was glad to see Koji. She looked at some men sleeping and some just staring into space. Just how much Sake had they drank she wondered. Yuri ignored them and went to Koji

"So Koji is there anything I can cook?" Koji was glad that she was okay

"How's your injury?"

"It's okay"

"That's great, you can help yourself over there" he said pointing at some pots and pans filled with only two fishes that had been caught who knows when. She went to the little kitchen noticing that they were still good. She started placing them in the pan and frying them. Genrou came inside and saw that all his men drunk. So far they hadn't gotten fresh on Yuri. He went to Koji and sat down on the table. Koji passed him some sake and he started drinking but not too much. After Yuri finished the fish she served in a plate and had made enough for Genrou and Koji. It was neatly fried with some rice she had found. The dish look neat but did it taste good?

"Here tough guy try this" she gave him some of the fish. Genrou grabbed the fork and gave a bite. His mouth became water at the first taste. How the hell can she cook that good? Guess she isn't a spoiled brat. Nah she was probably a hell raiser. Genrou had been drooling over the fish. Koji gave him a slap on the head

"Hey man you're drooling over your own food" Yuri couldn't hide the smile as Genrou glared at Koji. Yuri decided to tease him a little.

"So it's better than your mama's cooking?" Her smart remark made Genrou respond

"All women cook the same" Yuri didn't feel insulted but it kind of hurt that he said that.

"Whatever at least it fills you up" Now he regretted saying that. Then a very drunk Hansu came up to Genrou. His eyes landed on Yuri. That has to be the hottest women he'd seen. He got closer to her. She smelled the sake he had been drinking. He stinks worse than a dead dog.

"What's your name" he asked flirtatiously

"You need to sober up" she said ready to smack him in the face. Some of the men walked behind Hansu

"Straddle her!" the men started grabbing her. Damm these drunks can be mean. Koji angrily got off the table and Genrou followed him trying to get the idiots off Yuri. Despite their drunken state they could fight worse than a sober person. Genrou gave them a punch trying to knock them. We'll all of them would have a hangover in the morning. They were lying on the ground. Yuri brushed a man's arms from her shoulder.

"Guess that's why I shouldn't off come" she went back to the table

"Damm straight, that's why I offered you to stay in the room so I could get you something to eat" Genrou replied Well all the fish had dropped to the ground. Koji smiled and said

"They don't drink like this often" Yuri wasn't worried over it. But she was thinking about having a huge plate of food in front of her. Maybe it was better to look for food tomorrow.

"I'll wait till morning" she said. But her stomach was growling as loud as bear. Fuck the drunks and their clumsiness. Well tomorrow would be the start of a fresh day at least. Yuri said good night to Koji and Genrou going back to the room she was in before. Koji and Genrou sat in the table in silence each holding different thoughts. Man it had been messed up day facing those stupid Neshou bandits and meeting Yuri. Genrou sometimes didn't understand her. She would act stubborn trying to be macho and then she smiled at times feeling nothing bad happened to her. Strange women, he thought. Koji nudged Genrou

"Still here Genrou?" he asked

"Huh"

"I was expecting to hear that"

"So you think Shan is still alive?" Genrou asked changing the subject

"Don't know what about Eiken?"

"Probably he died during that drop in the cliff" Koji predicted

"Yeah since he didn't fly up the cliff like Yuri he's probably lying dead somewhere" then Koji asked Genrou

"You know what made her fly like that?"

"When I took her inside the room I noticed a mark glowing in her stomach" Koji got up from the table

"You don't think she's one of the Su…" Genrou interrupted him

"I'll ask her in the morning"

"Genrou just don't be too hard" Koji warned him

"She'll have to answer" he said

"Just don't get carried away if she doesn't wanna tell you"

"Will wait and see" he said yawning feeling tired "Hey Koji?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember not to tell her" Koji knew what he meant by that. He nodded fast and retired to his own room leaving the unconscious man on the ground.

Yuri went to bed feeling everything sore. After having bruises, fighting bandits, crashing on boulders I guess you could end up with a few bruised injuries or broken bones. She

also realized that her bag was missing. Great! I left it back at that hideout. I'll have to go tomorrow and retreat it. She also taught of returning to Mt. Taikyoku as soon as possible to find Taiits-kun. After a few moments slumber over took her.

Morning came faster than expected. Serin had awakened early and she got off bed. The girls were still sleeping. Walking over a few rooms she couldn't find Yuri's. She went to the corner guessing Yuri would be in there. She opened the door and found two men sleeping inside. It was Koji and Genrou on separate beds. Whoops! She thought. But her feet were dragging her inside the room. She wanted to take a closer look at Genrou. He was deep in his sleep. She got the chance to look at him. Something about this guy made her heart skip. She liked his hair his face everything. Maybe I wouldn't be good enough she thought. I only met him and haven't even had a conversation with him. Genrou tighten his fist feeling someone inside the room. He woke up fast and grabbed his sword pointing it at Serin as she put her head down.

"I was this close to killing you" he said getting a bit mad. Serin blushed as he saw his bare chest.

"Sorry I was looking for Yuri's room"

"Maybe next time you should knock" he replied. Koji was still asleep not hearing to commotion.

"I'll leave you to sleep then" she was about to go for the door. Genrou sat in the bed and stopped Serin.

"Your Serin right?" So he actually remembers my name she thought with a smile.

"Yes that's me"

"Can I ask you a few questions?"

"Okay"

"You know anything about Yuri's mark?" Serin remembered seeing the mark back at the cliff.

"I've seen the mark but I don't know what it means"

"I want to ask her about it but I don't want her to get pissed off"

"Yuri is really kind she won't get mad if you ask her about it"

"She doesn't like me and I was wondering if you could help me a little"

"Sure what do you want me to do?" she asked

"We'll it's a bit passed dawn and I was thinking if you could wake her up and send her to that lake over there" he pointed out the window showing a nice lake.

"How is that going to work?" she asked not sure

"Don't know but I'll get her to talk once I have her in that trap all day"

"Seriously that wouldn't be a good idea"

"Alright since you're her friend I'll set the trap myself" he grabbed a white shirt and his coat.

"Wait" she said

"Yeah?"

"Fine I'll help you"

"Great when Yuri awakes tell her to go to the lake behind our hideout" she nodded and left the room. What made me want to help him? Serin girl I think your liking this guy. Genrou paused and had one more thing to say

"Yuri's room is third to last" Serin walked to the room and opened it. She found Yuri awake on the bed sitting down.

"Morning Yuri"

"Morning" she said with a smile

"Feeling any better?" Serin asked

"Yes my Injury is healing"

"Where are the girls at?"

"They're sleeping"

"I'm so hungry" Serin started

"Hey maybe there are some good fish behind that lake that Genrou mentioned"

"Fish?"

"Yes, he told me it's a good place to fish"

"Sounds good to me, I'll go catch some and wake up the girls when I'm done frying them"

"Alright Yuri" she said cheerfully. It's working. She left the room leaving Serin by herself. Don't think her reaction will be pleasant. Serin left her room to go and see if the girls were awake.

Yuri went outside to find the sun barely rising. It was a beautiful morning… for fishing she thought happily. In Tokyo there had been some nice lakes where you could go fishing but she'd missed Konan. There it was a nice glassy lake. She got closer to the lake when her foot got caught in rope. She was raised backwards hanging in a tree. What the?

"Hey can someone get me down" she said with her voice raised. "Damm rope" she said trying to pull it from her foot. Then the red head came out from the tree. He wore a smirk as he approached Yuri.

"It's a good morning for fishing?" he asked

"Did you set the trap?"

"Yeah just wanted to show you that you can't be to careful around my place"

"Is that a threat?" she asked getting mad

"No I'm just warning you" he said

"Why are you doing this?" she asked with a frown

"Look I didn't want to do it but since this is the only way I can get you talk"

"You think I'm going to answer you?"

"I can leave you all day" he grinned

"Just wait till I get down from here"

"The ropes to tight it wouldn't be easy to take it off" he assured her but Yuri wouldn't give up as she grabbed it. She gave up and decided to talk to him

"Genrou?" she said

"Yeah?" he was about to walk off when Yuri called him

"What do you want to talk about?"

"You know what that mark means?" he said pointing at her stomach

"This mark, I don't know"

"Don't believe it I think you know what it means"

"I'm not lying, Genrou I mean it"

"Come on Yuri just tell me what it means so I could cut the rope"

"I don't know" she said. Then from behind the tree Koji came out and raised his knife to cut the rope. He caught Yuri and untied the rope from her foot.

"Genrou…" he began. Genrou just gave him a look of furry and left both of them feeling unsatisfied for not getting what he wanted.

"Thanks Koji"

"No problem" he said

"So how did you know I was here?" Yuri asked

"I was sleeping when I heard Genrou making some noise"

"Guess he woke you up then" she said with a smile

"Yep" he answered

"Koji you were listening right?"

"Yeah, Genrou could be pushy at times, so you really don't know what your mark means?"

"I don't" she said. Koji believed her because of the tone in her voice. We'll if she said no to me and Genrou then she isn't lying.

"You want me to clear it up for you"

"Yes"

"Have you heard of the Suzaku warriors?" Yuri stayed silent for a moment remembering something close to it.

"I think my mother told me about it when I was younger"

"You know who Suzaku is?" he asked

"Is he like a god of some sort?" she didn't remember since she was in Japan for six years.

"Yeah, he's the god of the south where we are."

"Konan has a god and Suzaku warriors."

"And each Suzaku warrior carries a mark of some sort" Yuri was thinking hard. Then she thought of her mark. No way!

"But that means…"

"You think you could be one of the Suzaku seven"

"Koji I don't think it's possible"

"Why not?"

"Why would some god want to pick a girl to carry on the task of a warrior?"

"Come one Yuri you have to believe it" If the mark was there then she had to believe it. Koji had reviewed with her about her Country's god. Back at her village there were many stories told about the warriors coming to save the country.

"Koji thank you for clearing this up" she was angry at Taiits-kun for not telling her about Suzaku. Why did she wait six years for this? I'll go to Taiits-kun and ask her. Then Koji's surprise came when she hugged him.

"I'll take that as a thanks" he said feeling glad that he told Yuri all this information. He wanted to make Yuri forget about by saying

"Wanna go fishing?" Yuri's smile lit up as she nodded cheerfully. Koji took out some fishing lines and gave one to Yuri.

"How did you know I like fishing?"

"Just a random guess" he said winking

"You know this reminds me of the time when my father and I would go fishing almost everyday, I don't know but it relaxes my mind when I'm focusing on one task"

"Catching the fish, yeah it's pretty easy if you have enough patience, unlike Genrou he won't get near the water"

"Why not?" she asked

"He can't swim" Koji said

"At least I know one of his weaknesses" Yuri said with a smile. Oh yeah wouldn't it be nice to throw him in the lake. A wide grin appeared at her face as Koji seemed puzzled by her expression. Koji just laughed enjoying the moment.

"Thinking of drowning Genrou?" he said with a grin and gave her a pat on the shoulder. They remained fishing in silence enjoying the morning.

Genrou walked through Mt. Reikaku finding a restaurant to eat in. Did Koji have to interrupt? How could Yuri not know about that mark? He decided to be away from the hideout the whole day so he could gather his thoughts about Yuri. Of all people he couldn't believe that she's possibly a Suzaku warrior. What a small world he thought as a waiter came to take his order. He wished she could off answered and everything would have been fine. But no she has to have her way by acting dumb.

_Back at the Hideout_

Serin had gone back into the room to find her friends missing. Momo was gone too. She got out of the room saying their names. Going into the kitchen there were men waking up. Hansu had woken up with a headache.

"I feel like a run down bull" he said. His vision cleared when he saw Serin standing in front.

"Have you seen my friends?"

"No I haven't" he said. Kedorikku came inside the kitchen to find them all up and about well barely waking up. He didn't like to drink. In his opinion drinking was only for special occasions like celebrating. He heard Serin's questions and immediately answered her

"Your friends are outside in the front" Serin thanked him and left to find her friends. She opened the doors and found them sitting down on the grass.

"Hi Serin" everyone said

"Hey everyone"

"You know where Yuri is?" asked Kuana

"I don't know" Serin lied

"Maybe she's still asleep" Kiana said

"I saw Yuri and Koji fishing together" Erein said

"When?" asked Serin

"Just right now" Erein said looking at Serin

"Come on Momo let's go see Yuri" Kuana ran off as Momo ran behind her. Kiana just smiled at her sister.

"She really likes Yuri" Kiana said

"I can tell" Serin said

"Let's go with Yuri" Erein said with joy as Kiana got up walking. She turned around and looked at Serin

"Aren't you coming?" Serin nodded as she was thinking why the trap hadn't work. She followed the girls.

Back at the lake Yuri and Koji had caught about 10 fish. Mostly they got wet during the process but it was satisfying to have that many fish. It almost like she was fishing with her father but Koji was with her of course.

"Man I got to tell you I've never seen anyone fish like that before" Koji said with amazement

"It's not everyday a girl with fishing skills comes along" Yuri said grinning

"Guess that's true" Koji said

"Well the sun is already up I'll take the fish inside" Koji nodded and got a basket he brought with him and placed the fish there. Then her friends including Momo were running towards Yuri and Koji.

"Hi Yuri" Kuana said "Got up early?"

"Yeah and it was a pretty good morning" Yuri said with joy

"How's your injury?" Kuana asked

"It's okay"

"Good to hear my friend" Erein said as she ruffled Yuri's hair. They laughed. Serin gave a smile to the girls. Koji left the girls there saying that he would fry the fish. Of course Yuri wanted to volunteer.

"Hey Koji don't fry all of them I want to cook some too"

"Since you're the guest here why don't I cook" Yuri decided to agree with him and nodded quick. He left the girls at the lake. Yuri was the first to speak.

"I found out about the mark in my stomach" Her friends got closer to her as they sat on the ground. Serin was eager

"And what does it mean?"

"I think that I'm one of the Suzaku warriors from the prophecy" Yuri replied

"Suzaku Warriors?" Kiana asked her eyes at full attention

"Well since you guys probably never heard of this" Yuri paused for a moment and Erein urged her on

"We won't get bored besides this country is new to us and we want to know more about it" Yuri began talking about Konan and the god it held. Kuana couldn't stop listening as she heard about a god that protects a country

"I think my mother told me about when I was young, I was here at the time before I got to Tokyo"

"So Yuri what are you planning to do?" Erein asked

"I'm thinking of going to Mt. Taikyoku and visit the ruler of this world"

"Who's the ruler of this world?" Kiana asked

"Her name is Taiits-kun and I think she knew about my mark"

"Why didn't she tell you?" Serin replied

"That's my question and I want to know why I could possibly be a Suzaku warrior"

"Where's Mt. Taikyoku?" Kuana asked

"I don't know where it is but I'm going to plan ahead, tonight I'll be going there"

"Yuri you don't even know where it is" Serin responded

"I'll ask people who live here and besides you guys have to get back to your world"

"Our world?" Serin asked

"Yeah when I was living here in Konan Taiits-kun made spells that had the ability of taking you to another dimension"

"So she can takes us back home" Kiana said having the hope of going back

"We'll find out once we get there" Yuri said

"I can't believe your actually a warrior Yuri" Kuana said over her impressed tone

"Neither can I" Yuri said

"I can guess flying is your ability" Erein said

"But I don't know what the mark means" Erein looked at it closely not ever seeing writing like that before.

"I've never had the chance to study ancient Chinese writing but I'm thinking it could mean sky since you can fly in the air"

"Maybe it means bird" Kuana said

"What about wing" Kiana said

They started chatting away with their prediction of the mark that Yuri interrupted them

"Guys we won't know what it means if we don't get a move on"

"So we'll leave tonight?" Erein said

"Tonight" Yuri repeated. They decided to head back to the hideout.

A few hours later

Genrou had finished his meal and had sat in the restaurant for who knows how long. Guess thinking had helped cleared his mind. He thought about the morning which Yuri had fallen for the trap. Know when he thought about it was kind of a harsh movement. Maybe if being nicer would of help but come on this is Genrou we're talking about. Genrou's weakness was women. In his opinion they had always been a nuisance and annoying creatures. He had thought of Yuri as annoying. When he set the trap for her he hadn't believed her about the mark. We'll Koji had warned him and deep in his mind a voice was telling him to apologize but he couldn't bring himself to do that. As he passed by to untie his horse he saw a man in a cape covered up. Who was that man? He wondered. I'm getting in over my head to deep. Genrou replied as he ignored the man and got on his horse. He rode back to the hideout having a strange feeling going through him.

Back at the hideout Yuri's friends had spended the rest of the day in the room getting their stuff ready for the trip. Koji had been in a meeting with his men. After his meeting he went into the girls room.

"Where's Yuri?" Koji asked them

"She went back to some other secret hideout she mentioned to retrieve her things" Serin said while getting her bag ready.

"Hope she gets back soon, it gets dangerous at night over there" Koji said with some worry

"She'll be back soon" Kuana assured him.

Yuri had walked through the forest looking for that little hideout that Koji had taken Yuri to. As she walked she heard a strange noise and turned around but no one was there. She thought someone was possibly watching her but she did bring her sword just in case. It was almost dark and she wanted to get back to her friends.

There it was the little hideout. She opened the doors slowly and found her bag inside. She grabbed it and walked to exit out when someone in a cape approached her. He took out his sword and revealed himself. Shan! Yuri said in her mind. She dropped her bag taking out her sword.

"I knew I would find you here" he said nastily as he kept his sword pointed at her. Behind him was Ru-su and he had an evil grin on his face as he took out his sword. Shan turned to Ru-su

"I'll take care of her" Ru-su nodded and stepped away to give him room.

"I'm not surprised it was you all along" Yuri said referring to the noise in the forest.

"You shouldn't be because you knew I would come back to hunt you"

"I'll kill you" she said grabbing her sword preparing for battle.

"DIE" he said savagely as he ran towards Yuri.

**Oh Crap! Yeah I know this sucks. Shan vs. Yuri...Again but this time is a face to face battle. We'll there won't be a preview here since I accidentally erased my story and now I can upload it along with chapter 12 which is how many chapters I've done so far. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Yes! Chapter 12 is ready to go. Happy reading :)**

**Chapter 12**

Yuri blocked the first move with her sword as he clashed it close to her stomach. Yuri's mark was glowing which gave her the strength to hold on but how long would she be able to? His insane look only pushed her down more trying to intimidate her.

Genrou was ridding back to the hideout. He got down from his horse and opened the doors to find it quiet. All his men were at a table having a quiet conversation. He went pass them trying to look for Koji. He was behind Genrou and he poked him with his index finger which startled Genrou.

"KOJI!" he gritted his teeth holding the yell.

"Well Genrou have you finally calmed yourself down?" Genrou didn't answer him instead he walked past him.

"Yuri's friends are going to Mt. Taikyoku" Koji said

"All by themselves?" Genrou asked incredulous

"Yeah, so aren't you going to say goodbye to Yuri?" he said teasingly

"No the less I have to deal with her the better" he said with his voice slightly disappointed that Yuri was leaving. Not that he would miss her. He knows how to get there but he has full responsibilities in keeping his men guided.

"There packing right now, Yuri went to get her things back at that hideout you and I know about" Genrou just nodded and went into the kitchen with his men. He sat down on the table and started eating as Kedorikku was serving the food since he was cook of the clan.

Meanwhile

"Everything ready then?" Serin asked as the girls had their bags with supplies for the trip. Momo scratched the bag of Serin trying to look for some food. Serin moved the bag from Momo.

"Hey doggy I already gave you a good meal"

"For a little guy he can sure eat a lot" Kuana said with amusement.

"I'm glad to be clean" Kiana said remembering a few hours ago when they had left the hideout for a while to look for a good place to bathe since the bandits didn't have any bathrooms inside. They had taken a little path leading through a small forest which had a little lake.

"I can't believe they don't have showers inside their place" Kiana said annoyingly.

"But it isn't everyday that we get to bathe in a lake" Erein said happily as she sat in the bed next to Kiana.

"And the foods they have here are delicious" Kuana said with her eyes sparkling as she remembered the rice balls she had.

"It's been a while since Yuri hasn't return" Serin said softly as she gazed out the window. Her friends remained silent as Serin mentioned that. Koji went inside checking on the girls.

"Are you sure you want to go right now?" Koji asked

"Yeah don't worry Koji we can handle ourselves" Serin said with determination

"Yuri hasn't come back yet?" Koji said to the girls but more to himself

"No" Serin answered

"She was just going to get her things but I don't know why it can take that long" Kuana said feeling worried over the idea that Yuri is in danger. Koji headed for the door.

"You guys stay here, I'll go see if Yuri's okay" he closed the door leaving the girls frighten for Yuri but hopeful that nothing is going on.

Hansu had been laughing with some of the men. Genrou remained silent through out the whole meal he had. All of them seemed to be normal and Kedorikku came to him.

"You've been quiet, is everything okay Genrou?"

"Yeah" he said in low voice. Kedorikku didn't want to bother so he just nodded and went to talk to the other guys. He decided to get up and walk outside. He opened the doors and saw Koji getting on his horse going somewhere in a rush. Genrou wanted to follow him so he found his horse. The horse didn't except him to get on.

"Stupid animal" the horse raised his front legs in the air almost crushing him. He moved and landed on the ground. He was wildly trying to get away from him. The horse broke the rope and ran away deeper into town.

"Come back here you dumb mule" He yelled at it angrily and chased it but gave up since it was faster. Well if he couldn't ride on a horse then he had to run. He ran in the path that Koji had taken.

"I'm surprised you managed to stay this long" Shan had been able to knock out Yuri a few times but she came back struggling to stay in the sword battle that he had set up. A few new scratches had formed in her legs and some in her face, but nothing serious. He was breathing hard with all the excitement of killing Yuri and thinking of getting his claws on that stupid Mt. Reikaku bandit leader. Yuri gave him a grin of furry.

"Yuri you should just give up" he said as his sword clashed again with hers

"I'll never give up you bastard not after my father's murder" Yuri raised her voice holding back as Shan brought her down to the ground

"Once I kill you than you'll regret every moment of ever showing your face to me" he pushed her even harder to the wall

"Not today you peace of vomit" Yuri said her eyes a cold blue as she struggled to knock him down

"Big words for such a pathetic girl" he said manically as he made a quick movement hitting Yuri's hands as her grip on the sword loosened. He pointed the sword in her heart.

"I've been waiting for this moment too long" he said with satisfaction as he saw her weak form lying on the ground. She raised her hand to reach for her sword as Shan's foot connected with her hand hurting it. Yuri grunted as she felt the pain in her hand. Shan grabbed her neck with firm pressure.

"Your days of living are over" he said as he raised his sword in the air. Yuri struggled and her mark was glowing which gave her the strength to kick him in the groin. He yowled in pain as his grip loosened from her neck. She got her sword pointing it at him.

"Bao-zhi was right about you! the way you fight against your opponents shows that you're not a man."

"You're father is bastard and a traitor who only cares about his needs so once I've killed his most precious item I'll have the complete set of everyone in your family too." Yuri's eyes were in shock but he continued

"All your relatives are dead because my bandits and I murdered them" Yuri dropped the sword in her hand and fell against the wall. Shan got up and walked slowly towards Yuri

"Your family has been negotiating with us before you were born and they were all once bandits. But your uncles and aunts were murdered once they weren't able to keep up with us anymore. It's all about the money Yuri. Once they decide to keep the money for themselves and run off we come after them and give them the punishments they deserved. Since you're the only one left I think its best that you REST IN PEACE!" Yuri eyes were filled with tears learning the history of her family negotiating with bandits. Koji slammed the door opened as he saw a tearful Yuri with Shan on the verge of killing her. Koji just looked at him. His appearance was pretty gross. His face was all burned up. His hands showed the same. Everything was burned. Koji couldn't believe he had survived from the Tessen.

"Let go of her NOW!" Koji roared the command. Shan just smiled evilly at him and looked at Yuri

"Looks like your sweet little savior knows where you are all the time" Koji didn't know why he was smiling that way but when another man came out from the shadows Koji turned around and heard him scream like a warrior. Koji started fighting him with their swords clashing. Shan just watched not wanting to miss the moment of watching Koji's struggles. Ru-su wasn't a bad sword fighter. He definitely met his match. Koji had gotten a few cuts on his face. And then he ripped his shirt with coming close to his heart. Koji cried as he clashed his sword against Ru-su. He only teased Koji with his sword as he waved it. Koji knew Ru-su was up to something. That's when he turned away and got behind Koji. Without hesitation Koji moved his sword hurting Ru-su's arm. He groaned and grabbed his arm. But Ru-su wasn't determined since it only enraged him more. Ru-su kicked Koji on his chest and slashed his stomach causing him to bleed. He fell on the ground grunting with pain.

Ru-su looked at Koji and pulled his hair causing him to face Shan. Yuri looked hopelessly at Koji feeling guilty that she had caused his pain. He grabbed her shoulder softly at first. Yuri shrugged at the feeling.

"What's the matter Yuri?" he said almost laughing. There was hardly a strategy Yuri could come up with. Shan went to Koji while grabbing the sword and pointing it at his throat

"Maybe it would be a delight to see you suffer first?" he said purposely with a wide nasty grin on his face. He got the sword closer to Koji.

Genrou ran fast as a speeding bullet trying to find Koji. Why was he in such a hurry? Before Koji left he did tell him that Yuri went to that other hideout he and Koji knew about. But why was she over there, could she have gotten in any danger? It has been a while since she didn't come back. Genrou started feeling a twinge in him something that hasn't troubled him before. Guilty for not believing Yuri? WHAT? He thought. That's not it? Did she really know about her mark? About the Suzaku warriors? The possibility just made Genrou run faster. He stopped running once he found the hideout. Climbing up the steps he got closer when Ru-su opened the door attacking him.

"Welcome" Ru-su said rudely as he started battling with Genrou.

"Where's Koji?" he said as he aimed his sword to his neck but missed.

"I'm not telling you anything that is if you can beat me" he taunted. Genrou just got angrier. When his anger rose there was something that blinded him only making him stronger. Ru-su started struggling with him as he moved his sword. It only moved slower which tired him. Genrou did a quick swing with the sword causing blood to come out from Ru-su. His stomach was bleeding and he groaned with pain. He grabbed Genrou by his collar as he crawled on his knees grabbing his jacket. His last words were

"You'll be in hell someday" and he dropped on the ground.

"Bastard" he muttered as he left him and went to the doors. What he saw angered him even more. Yuri was in the clutches of Shan while Koji laid beaten and looked like he was going to die. Shan just smiled at him as if he were welcoming.

"This just keeps getting better and better" he said excitedly. Yuri tried pulling herself away but Shan held her tight with the sword going to her throat.

"You just don't give up do you Shan?" He growled at him almost chocking at his own words. He wanted to help Koji and untangle Yuri from Shan. But that could kill her.

"I was hoping you would come so you could watch Sweet little Yuri and Your idiot friend over here die with this sword" He putted closer to Yuri. That's when he traced a line in her throat causing her to bleed. Genrou's nostril flared.

"Stop it! Right know you peace of shit!"

"Care for the little girl?" he said feeling confident. Yuri's mark was glowing but it was hard trying to get out from his grasp. Tears were streaming from her eyes. Then before her eyes her vision was blurred for a moment while she caught herself surrounded in light. A spirit appeared before her. It came out as her father.**(A/N: This is where Yuri's parents appear as spirits. Yeah I know it's annoying but this will be an important part later in the chapter).**

Yuri couldn't believe her eyes as she saw her mother and father happily together.

"Bao-zhi?" his browned hair stood long as his grey eyes were warm with emotion.

"Mei-li, my beautiful daughter it's been so long" he said trying to reach for her but he stood in front of her.

"I can't defeat Shan and I've failed you."

"You haven't failed me in any way and right know these two friends of yours need you" Yuri bowed her head down not sure she was able to bring Shan down.

"He's right sweetheart" her mother Ai-mu appeared. She was still beautiful with her white face blue sapphire eyes and black flowing hair.

"Mother" Yuri said with so much feelings going through her.

"I know it's difficult for you and I remembered in my grave yard that you said would avenge my death but right know what matters most is to defeat Shan."

"He doesn't want you to defeat Shan for avenging. You have friends that love you and have such a big adventure ahead of you." Ai-mu said with encouragement

"And after all the people Shan's hurt " Bao-zhi said looking at Ai-mu.

"But I don't feel strong" Yuri said

"Strength comes from the ones you love the most." Ai-mu said soothingly

"Right know these two men need your help" Bao-zhi said. Yuri started changing her face trying to believe that she could defeat Shan

"Alright I'll help them" Ai-mu tried reaching for her hand but Yuri couldn't touch her or reach her.

"It's time for us to go now" Bao-zhi said as he started fading away slowly. She didn't want them to go.

"We love you Mei-li" Bao-zhi said putting his arm around his wife's shoulder

"Be strong sweetheart" Ai-mu said "We'll remain in your heart forever" Yuri smiled at the thought remembering those words that she said along time ago before she died in her arms. Her parents' spirits disappeared from her mind as she was back in reality with Shan close to her and Genrou frozen.

"Any last words Yuri?" he said.

"I should ask you that question" Yuri said smiling. Shan looked at her in surprise

"Smiling now? Not for long." He said grabbing the sword raising it up and aiming for her heart. Yuri pushed him away but Genrou ran to her trying to save her anyways. He took out his sword injuring Shan's arm. He groaned and loosened himself from Yuri. She smiled and appeared to be angry at Genrou.

"Yuri?" he asked as Yuri guessed that he was angry with her.

"I'll explain later" she said as Genrou nodded quick. They both faced Shan. He got his sword ready.

"You think I'm afraid to fight two idiots!" he said as he cried out and fought Genrou first Yuri went to help him but he blocked her swing. Genrou was breathing hard as he dodged all the clashes Shan was doing. Yuri however wasn't doing a good job with the sword. Shan had given her cuts on her arms and know she fell on the ground grabbing it quick but Shan stepped on her arm. Shan still fought with one arm as Genrou tried bringing him down.

"You'll pay for murdering people in our town" Genrou growled his temper flaring

"There's nothing I would enjoy more than burning your precious town"

"You're not getting near it"

"Ha! That's what you think" In one quick motion Shan waved his sword the on top of Genrou head when the red head found the aim to kill him. Shan fortunately knew where he was aiming so he tricked him and smacked him on the head real hard with his elbow. That caused Genrou to fall down on the ground. He almost got up but Shan stopped him by stepping on him with his other foot.

"I have to say that both of you are pathetic" Genrou had enough strength to tip him over. He grabbed his foot with his free hand while Yuri did the same

"Forgot to lock both our hands" Yuri said to make him look dumb. They knocked him on the ground and Yuri grabbed her sword pointing it at his heart. She paused for a moment. This is it. You finally got this slime ball in your hands. After he killed my father and my family he deserves to die.

"Aren't you going to kill me?" Yuri was shaking. She was afraid to kill the man. Genrou just stared at her. She put her sword down. Shan gave her a wicked smile

"Bad Choice" he said as he got up and got his sword to aim it at her heart. Yuri thought she was going to die. But it all happened so fast that she didn't even realize how quick she got the sword to protect herself and stab him in the heart. His shocked face proved that he was dying. As he collapsed on Yuri his eyes remained opened looking at her. She moved away from the body. Genrou took out the sword from his heart

"Looks like you killed him"

"Yeah" she said trying to smile. It was hard too when she saw Koji on the ground.

"Koji!" she cried and ran to him. Genrou looked at his wound.

"Here help me pick him up and we'll take him back" Yuri nodded but quickly remembered that her bag was there so she took it and went to Genrou and Koji.

They stepped outside and saw the dead body of Ru-su. Yuri looked at Genrou as he looked at his body in disgust. A horse was at the bottom. It was lucky that Koji had brought it. They placed him gently on top of the horse with his face looking at the ground. Genrou grabbed the horse and dragged it back to the path of the Mt. Reikaku hideout.

Both of them walked back in silence. They had brought Koji inside and Kuana gasped when she saw Koji and Yuri.

"What happened?" she asked looking at Koji

"I'll tell you inside" Yuri said gesturing at one of the rooms. Kuana was interrupted by her cuts

"Look at these cuts" she looked closer at them and noticed one in her throat

"Let's see these wounds" she grabbed Yuri's hand taking her away from Genrou and Koji. Genrou's men came forward and saw Koji badly injured. Kedorikku looked at his wound.

"What happened?"

"That bastard Shan was still alive and one of his goons attacked Koji and Yuri"

"Here let's take him over there" he said gesturing at to another room. Hansu got up immediately looking at Koji in shock. He heard Genrou mentioned Shan.

"What happened to that Son of a bitch?" he asked eagerly

"Yuri killed him" Genrou responded

"She killed him? Hansu asked incrediously

"He'll rest it up in hell" Hansu said with satisfaction. Genrou didn't answer to that and he left going outside to the front. That Neshou leader was a cold hearted man. Yuri had been close to dying and he'd also hurt his best friend. Genrou was grateful that both of them were alive. But he was hoping to make the bastard suffer more for all the grief he had caused lots of people. He looked at the stars in the sky letting his mind drift away.

Yuri had walked with Kuana inside where her friends were. They greeted her. Serin was first

"Yuri, do you have any idea how long you've been gone?" she was half mad and relieved. Erein looked at Yuri's injuries

"I'm sorry Serin"

"Want to tell us what happened?" Yuri sat down on the bed next to Serin and Erein

"Shan came back and found me" Erein went to her bag and took out some medical supplies

"No kidding" Erein said looking at the cut in her throat. Kuana helped Erein as she was slowly placing salve on her other cuts

"That idiot was still alive?" Serin asked

"Koji came in and got badly injured by another bandit he was accompanied with, Genrou found me and we both fought him and I was about to get stabbed by him when I shielded myself with the sword stabbing him in the heart" Erein went to Yuri and sat next to her

"What matters most is that he's dead and he won't hurt anyone else" Erein said. Kuana had bandaged the wound from her throat. Yuri thanked her as Kiana happily said

"It's a good thing Koji and that red head know it all came in"

"Don't like the red haired dude?" Kuana asked her twin sister

"No he's obnoxious and annoying isn't he Yuri?" Yuri nodded and agreed with her.

"Definitely" Serin silently disagreed with both of the girls. In her thoughts Genrou was a good looking bandit. Yuri gave another fallen face.

"What's wrong now?" Serin asked

"It's my fault for hurting Koji" Yuri said

"Why do you say that?" Kiana asked

"Because if he wouldn't of been worried then he wouldn't of gone to the hideout and have that Injury." Erein

"Come now Yuri don't feel like that, Koji had a right to be worried for you, we were already thinking of going there ourselves but Koji told us to stay here so he could go after you" Yuri started dropping of few tears.

"What's wrong now Yuri?

"That I have the greatest friends in the world" Yuri said as she hugged Erein. Kiana and Kuana came to form a group hug. Serin said and then she gave a smile as she went to join the group hug. They finished the hug and Yuri took out her medallion mirror.

"That's a pretty mirror" Kiana said. Erein looked at it with interest

"This is going to help us find Taiits-kun" Yuri said

"So it locates" Erein said

"Yep so I guess we won't get lost after all" Yuri replied with a grin.

"I can't wait to meet the ruler of this world" Kuana said. Yuri put it back in her bag as her friends grabbed their things ready to leave. Genrou walked in looking at her friends and his eyes moved to Yuri

"Can I talk with you?" he said trying not to sound angry. Yuri sighed hard before she looked at her friends and they looked at her saying mentally that they can wait. Yuri just gave him a blank look before walking outside from the room, Genrou following. Yuri stood in front of Genrou waiting for him to say something.

"About the mark…" Yuri cut him off

"Look I know about the mark so you obviously don't have to get all pissed off"

"I wasn't going to say that it's just that I…" Genrou trailed off. He wanted to apologize to her but his stubbornness was blocking. Deep in his mind he knew it was right.

"That trap you put was pretty clever but I'll watch out next time" she said smiling.

"So you know about the mark?" he said

"Yeah I know what it means now" Yuri said annoyingly

"And…" Genrou started

"And I didn't want to believe it but it looks like I'm a suzaku warrior" she finished

"Didn't know about our god in Konan?"

"I remembered my mother told something about it but I obviously forgot about it"

"People in Konan don't forget about Suzaku"

"I was in another world for 6 years but I wouldn't expect for you to believe it" then she changed the subject "Where's koji?"

"He's sleeping" Genrou answered "I don't believe your story" he said before leaving her. Yuri stuck her tongue out at him as he walked away. I guess the apology hadn't come out.

"Stupid fang boy" she said. Genrou heard it

"Brat" he said getting angry. Here we go again. Hansu interrupted them

"How's Koji doing?" Genrou asked

"He'll feel better in the morning just a little sore" Genrou nodded at him and Yuri asked

"Can I see him?"

"Sure I'll take you" he said as she followed him. Genrou didn't follow instead he went the opposite direction. Man I didn't apologize to her. Why does it matter? It's hard to believe she was in another world. Like that's possible. He thought sarcastically. Well she did sound serious but I doubt it.

They walked inside with Kedorikku bandaging his wound. He was awake and he gave Yuri a bright smile as she walked in.

"Hey! How are you feeling?" Koji asked

"I should be asking you that" Yuri said as she got closer and stood on the side of the bed.

"It's nothing serious and the cut will heal" he said half teasing half serious. Yuri grabbed a chair and sat next to him

"I killed Shan" she said quietly

"I guess he's pretty dead this time" Koji said

"Yeah and also I wanted to tell you that I'm leaving tonight"

"You sure?" he asked

"Yes and I already know how to get there"

"I received a mirror locator from Taiits-kun"

"That means you won't get lost then, sure gonna miss having you around"

"We just met today"

"But I enjoyed your company, and I wish you the best of luck on your journey" he said

Koji raised himself slowly so he could embrace her but Yuri brought him back on the bed concerned about his injury. Yuri's eyes started with tears and Koji didn't know why. She turned her face so he couldn't see

"What's this for?" Koji asked

"It's my fault that you got hurt" she said

"Hmm now that I think about it..." he said with a grin as Yuri pushed him away.

"I was just kidding" he said with a grin. He grabbed a tissue and Yuri was suprised when he placed his hands on her face removing her tears.

"What happened to me was not your fault Yuri understood?" Yuri nodded as he let go of her. He was about to raise himself again when Yuri pushed him back on the bed as she was concerned about his injury.

"Don't move" she said. Koji raised himself up again and caught her in a hug.

"You'll always be welcomed here" he said whispering

"Thanks Koji," They seemed to be hugging for a long time.

"I want you to come back okay" he whispered in her hair. Both of them stopped hugging and she said with a smile

"Of course" she said with a smile

"Get going then" Yuri grinned at as he gave her a gentle push behind her back.

"Bye Koji and get well soon" he nodded.

Genrou had been listening to their conversation. He frowned when he saw Koji embraced Yuri but he didn't know why? The door was slightly open and he saw Koji embrace Yuri. And when he touched her face Genrou frowned even more at that Moment. Aaah! What's wrong with me? he thought mentally shaking his head. I should be leaping with Joy that she's leaving so why can't I? I guess she wasn't jesting he thought. She knows where to find Taiits-kun. Wait a minute I don't even know who she is. Why do I care? Hell I just want her to go so she won't cause trouble. It wasn't true because Genrou felt kind of disappointed that she was going to leave soon. Arguing with her was kind of fun. Except when they got carried away. Genrou hadn't heard Yuri. Not until she opened the door and saw him standing there.

"Hey were you listening?" Yuri said

"So what if I was" he said tauntingly

"Whatever"

"Leaving?"

"Yeah, miss me already?" she said smiling

"Nah, at least we won't have anymore pests running around my place" ouch that was a stinger. Yuri's smile faded and the hurt was there but she didn't show him that. Damm I did it again. He thought with regret.

"And if I was such a pest why didn't you break like hell and throw me outside" she said coldly as she walked away. Genrou didn't make an attempt to stop her. She tried not to show the hurt but Genrou could see it in her eyes. His brain said however. You idiot apologize to her! He shook his head ignoring his head. Kedorikku came to see Genrou sitting against the wall.

"Anything bothering you?"

"Go away" he said harshly. Kedorikku gave him a blank look and walked away fast.

Yuri was walking at a fast pace. Stupid bandit who does he think he is? Why is he so mean? She remembered back when he saved her from Eiken, treating her Injury, and helping her defeat Shan. She ignored those nice things and thought of all the bad things he did. She opened the door to see her friends waiting.

"Ready?" Kuana asked And if I was such a pest why didn't you break like hell and throw me outside

"Sure, let's go" Yuri said as her friends got their bags.

"Where were you Yuri?" Erein asked

"I was saying goodbye to Koji"

"Nice guy" Kiana commented as they walked outside. Momo was being carried by Kuana as he growled a little.

"If it wasn't for Momo we wouldn't have found Kiana and Erein"

"So that dog has a good sense of smell, all dogs do" Serin said

"I think he deserves a treat for his hard work" Kiana petted the dog

"Thanks for saving us, you really are a good boy" Erein laughed

"He'll understand you if you give him a treat"

"That's my Momo" Yuri said as she took out a snack for him. Yuri gave him some cookies and Momo gobbled them up fast. She gave some to her friends too.

"It's a good thing you came prepared, I was already missing the food from our world" Kiana said as she ate the cookie.

"I just hope I brought enough for all you guys" Yuri said

Yuri took out the mirror waiting for any sign of Taiits-kun. It gave a red glow as it pointed north.

"Guess we have to go north"

"I'm ready to walk" Serin said.

"I just hope I don't hear you complain about stopping" Kuana said to Serin.

"Eventually you will slow us down. I know your appetite"

"Calling me fat now?" They started having their friendly argument as Kiana smiled and Erein stayed in her calm mood. Yuri was more than ready to meet Taiits-kun. They walked further away from the town disappearing into a wide path.

**This is the last chapter I uploaded for today. Damm! I'm so mad. I can't believe I erased my own story. I feel like an idiot. If you want to find out what happens next you'll have to wait for the next update. Chapter 13 coming soon! SophieStar2 over and out.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi Everyone! Chapter 13 ready to go. **

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**Chapter 13**

Yuri and her friends had been walking for hours as they were still hoping to find a small town to rest in for the night. Yuri didn't know how long it would take to find Taiits-kun but with her friends feeling worn out Yuri was getting impatient. Serin was already getting irritated with the twins as they kept on repeating

"Are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet…" Serin had turned around stopping them with their faces scared.

"NO WE ARE NOT!" Kiana started saying

"Oh Serin I sure could use a nice plate of warm chicken with white rice and some noodles and…" Kuana covered her mouth as Serin glared at both

"Stop it or else you're going to get everyone hungry, lord knows how long it's going to take to get there?" Erein wasn't paying attention to them. She was next to Yuri.

"So when we find this Taiits-kun what are we going to do?" Yuri stood silent for a moment then her answer came out

"I'm going to find out what she wants and try to get you guys home" Serin heard what she said and ignored the twins catching up to her

"Whoa Yuri hang on you mean your going to send us home and you have to stay here?"

"Yes"

"But..but what about Adara?" Yuri didn't answer her instead she placed her head down. Erein and Serin looked at each other. Erein turned to Yuri

"You can't just leave Adara did you even say goodbye to her?"

"I gave her a note" Yuri said feeling ashamed

"I could imagine how she is right now maybe she's looking for you" Serin said sadly. Erein just remained quiet. Erein was in thouhght asking her self silently there can be a way that Yuri can communicate with Adara?

"I'm sorry I can't go back" Yuri said breaking off with emotion

"And why not?" Kuana said getting into the conversation

"Because Konan is my country and my home" That was half the truth. Sure her friends knew she was a Suzaku warrior but they didn't really know what's going on with her.

Serin immediately noticed that.

"Come on Yuri just spill the beans and tell us what's going on?" Yuri wanted to be honest with her friends so she said

"After my father's death Taiits-kun found me and we made a deal"

"A deal?" Kiana asked

"Yes for seven years she decided to take me to another world to find a better life and after those seven years were over then she told me to come back to Konan to find her."

"But do you know what she wants?" Serin asked feeling angry that the old lady didn't gave her an explanation on why she really needed to come back.

"She didn't specify a few details but what I do know is that I am a Suzaku warrior and that this might have been what she was hiding from me"

"She does owe you an explanation" Kiana said feeling frustrated with the old lady

"That's why I can't wait to find her" Yuri said looking at her mirror. Momo was just running ahead of them when all of a sudden Momo stopped dead in his tracks and he smelled something funny. Yuri and her friends stopped in front of him wondering why he stopped

"Now what is he smelling?" Serin said frowning at the dog

"Who knows" Kiana said looking at the dog with a weird expression. That's when Momo started barking and he got off the road going inside the forest. Yuri hesitated as she looked at her Mirror. It was pointing north and the dog had taken the east direction. But she decided to run after him.

"Momo, Wait!" she yelled trying to stop him. Serin sighed hard as she looked where Yuri had gone. She went after her with Erein, Kiana, and Kuana running behind.

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_Meanwhile outside the streets of Tokyo_

Adara was driving in her red Honda Civic trying to find Yuri. She had been driving for 1 hour and still no sign of Yuri.

_Flashback_

It was midnight and Adara had had a nice dream when all of sudden she felt a chill going through her spine. She had dreamt about Yuri graduating from High school.

_It was a beautiful ceremony as she saw her walk up the aisle to receive her diploma. All of Yuri's friends got their diplomas too. All the people were clapping with joy and then all of a sudden a cold wind appeared before her eyes blinding her vision as Yuri and her friends faded away and she was surrounded in nothing. _

Adara had woken up and saw the window. She braced herself from the chill and got up to close it. Now that she had woken up she decided to go check on Yuri. She put on her red robe and walked out of her room walking a few yards to where Yuri's room was. When she opened it the horror in her eyes showed as she saw nothing in the room. She ran to Yuri's bed and saw a note. Adara weakly grabbed the posting of the bed as she slowly sat down. She grabbed the letter and read it

_Dear Adara,_

_I was called to do something important. I'm sorry for leaving you and not telling you where I went. I will always love you and keep you in my heart._

_Sincerely,_

_Yuri_

Adara put the paper in her face and she started sobbing. But then she realized that Yuri would never do that and why now that her life was going right? No! Adara thought I'm going to find you Yuri and find the motive. She ran from the room as quickly as possible hoping Yuri wouldn't get far.

_End of Flashback _

Now Adara had been driving for the longest time and she looked in the most recent places that she knew where Yuri would be. First she tried the park and there wasn't a single shadow there accept for the owls that her howling. Adara got startled but when she saw the owls she was disappointed. She had gone to recent performing art centers other dancing studios. She even went to a pay phone to call each of Yuri's friends.

_Serin's apartment_

The phone was ringing and Serin's Step father had woken up from the couch and answered rather like barely waking

"Heeuuuullloo" he answered with a yawn

"This is Adara" She said her name since they were friends

"Hey Adara!" He recognized her then his face fell "Why are you calling so late?"

"I was wondering if Yuri was over at Serin's"

"No she isn't" He could feel Adara's disappointment "What's wrong?" he asked

"Nothing" she said trying to smile "Well that's all I wanted to know bye Ben!" she hanged up calling Erein's house

"Hello Mrs. Kanji?"

"Yes who am I speaking with?"

"This is Adara Hamasaki Yuri's mother I was wondering if she was over at Erein's house"

"I don't recall ever hearing Erein invite anyone but she said that she was going over to visit Yuri isn't she over there?" Adara didn't want to worry Erein's mother so she lied

"Yes she is, I just needed to call because I asked Yuri to go get some new costumes for our dance studio and I was wondering if she decided to drop by and to pay you a visit"

"Well she hasn't but I do enjoy her company"

"Yes and don't worry about anything all the girls are over at our apartement"

"Okay thank you for telling me make sure Erein doesn't behave badly"

"Of course not, good night Mrs. Kanji" she hanged up and decided to call Kiana and Kuana. She was about to dial when she realized that maybe she would receive the same answer. She put the phone back thinking about Yuri's friends too. Maybe all of them ran away. I have to find them before there parents call the police. She ran into her Red Honda Civic and continued her search.

_2 hours later_

Adara was losing hope already thinking that the girls must have fled the city. She stopped her car in front of the national library and after she got out she got down on the ground sobbing hard.

"Yuri why?" she said as tears were blinding her eyes. Her brown hair spilled in front of her covering her face. She continued crying a while longer.

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_Meanwhile inside the national library_

A man with blond hair and grey eyes was upstairs inside the document's reference room. He had been reading about Miaka and her struggle with helping out her warrior friends. At first when he had been arguing with Miaka that characters from a book are not real he had been fooled big time realizing that Miaka wasn't kidding around. But all of a sudden he had been reading about another suzaku warrior. _Yuri. _He read that Yuri's friends had been chasing Momo…

"What the heck?" he said looking at the pictures of the girls. "Is already bad enough as it is with Miaka but these girls…" he grabbed the bookmark saving the page to where he left off and closed it. He decided he was going to read it back at Tetsuya's apartment but first he was going to give him a call. He put the book inside his jacket and snuck off quickly going downstairs and into the window he managed to climb. He thought it was odd to see a ladder before Miaka was inside. Maybe those girls snuck inside the library but why? He thought. He got out the window climbing down the ladder. He was running fast when he saw a red car parked in the library. He got closer to see the car when he saw a lady in her early thirties crying in the ground. Keisuke got closer to the lady and tapped her.

"Miss are you alright?"

"No I'm not leave me alone" she said in shaky tone. Keisuke looked at how much tears her eyes had. He took out a tissue from his pocket and gave it to her.

"Here take this" Adara looked at him for a second and their gazes locked. She took the tissue and thanked him.

"You want to tell me what's wrong?" he said. Adara straighten herself grateful for his concern

"There is nothing you can do, she's gone she's gone" Keisuke almost saw her falling so he grabbed her shoulders and placed her down in a bench

"What do you mean she's gone?"

"My Yuri ran away from home and I can't find her. I think her friends are with her and…" Keisuke's eyes widen in shock as he heard the name.

"Say that name again?" he told her quickly

"You mean Yuri?" she said. Keisuke's thoughts were going crazy. Could she be referring to the Yuri in the Book he wondered. She's been trying to find her. He decided to ask her.

"What does she look like?" he asked

"She has blue sapphire eyes and long black hair…" Keisuke was right. He got up so fast that he startled her.

"I think I know where your daughter is at" he said sadly. Adara got up all of a sudden.

"You know where she is?" Adara grabbed her purse and smacked him in the head

"Ouch! Hey what was that for?"

"What have you done to Yuri?" she said getting angry

"No! Miss you got it all wrong please let me explain" she decided to hear him out so she crossed her arms glaring at him.

"You might think I'm crazy but I think your daughter is inside the book" he took it out from his jacket. Adara just smiled slightly and said sarcastically

"I don't belive this at first I think you took her and now your showing me an old book that you say Yuri's in" She grabbed her purse when Keisuke stopped her.

"You might think I'm crazy but what if I'm right." She stopped and he continued "I read this book and I saw Yuri and her friends" Adara was with her back turned. Then she turned around and got closer to him. He had the book open showing him the pages. When she found Yuri and her friend's names on the book she grabbed the book.

"Yuri, Yuri, please say something?" Keisuke was trying to calm her down

"Hey calm down Miss…"

"Hamasaki but My name is Adara" she said looking at the book

"Nice to meet you uh Adara"

"Get her out now!" she said to Keisuke

"Hold on now! My sister is also trapped in the book. I don't know how to get her out."

"Then what can we do?" she said hopelessly

"How about we go to my friend's house and figure that out"

"Anything to free my Yuri" she said. Adara wasn't very fond of Keisuke but she finally realized that he wasn't lying about the book. It's strange though she thought. She offered him to get in her car.

"Get in the car" She said. Keisuke got inside and started saying

"Is it alright if I give my friend a call first?" she nodded and Adara turned on the car driving away from the library.

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_Back to Konan_

Momo had been running for about an hour. Yuri was annoyed because the dog wouldn't stop. She wasn't worried about being lost though. Her friends were behind her calling her name. Yuri stopped when she saw Momo slowing down. He started walking as he sniffed with his nose all around. A shadow was inside the trees.

_Meanwhile_

A mysterious monk with gravitational purple hair and his Kesa (Cape) and Shakujou (Staff) laid on top of the trees watching the girls. That annoying dog had been sniffing him. He sighed as he saw the girls. They were going in the wrong direction and all because of him. He wanted to use some magic to give them the right direction but the girls would be suspicious and worried so he grabbed his hat disappearing into it. Maybe they will find the hat but not him.

_Back with the girls_

Momo started growling. Yuri looked at Momo

"What's wrong boy?" she asked. She saw something tumbling down in front of her. It was a big hat. Yuri looked at it with wonder

"Is this what you were sniffing?" Momo growled at it.

"It's just a hat Momo" he calmed down a bit but slightly growled often. Kuana and Kiana came closer

"Strange why is it that we find a hat but not someone that will murder us?" Kuana had said

"Maybe it went out of fashion" Kiana said looking at the hat like it was out of century. Yuri looked at it closely.

"I think it's important" she thought out loud

"Really?" Serin said almost laughing at it

"Okay we won't argue so let's just take it" Yuri put the hat behind her.

"You sure?" Serin said

"Maybe someone lost it and is trying to find it, if we wait for someone to call us then will give to the person that owns it" Yuri said. In her thoughts the hat wasn't ordinary. She thought that maybe the hat fell on purpose.

"When you get it near the dog he won't resist chewing it up into pieces" Serin said. Erein just looked at the hat with interest.

"Well then Momo you have to trust my judgment then" Momo wasn't satisfied. He wanted to chew it and destroy it. Erein looked at the hat and said

"I like this hat, maybe there's something special about it we don't know"

"You might be right" Yuri said as they retraced their steps. But the mirror started glowing giving a better way to go.

"Cool it chose another path" Yuri said to her self.

They walked a little longer when a town came into view. There was already a sunset and some activities going on outside. The owners outside the market already started storing their food away to start a fresh day for tomorrow. People were still walking. Yuri and her friends were walking through town trying to find an inn.

"Hey there's a nice one over there" Serin said pointing at a big building. They decided to check in. There was a man in front of the reservation area about to close when he saw a few young ladies including the dog come inside

"Can I help you?" he said politely

"Yes could you give us two rooms for the night" the man grabbed a giant book looking at his schedule of rooms that were available. He kept on going through the book. Yuri was eager to get into a comfy bed and dream.

"I'm sorry miss but there isn't any rooms available for tonight"

"But where we can we go?"

"That is not my business, if you will leave please I'm going to close for the night" he started shoving the girls

"But but…" Kiana said

The man shoved them outside closing the door. They remained speechless when Yuri stomped her foot

"Great all the rooms are taken"

"Where are we going to sleep now?" Kiana said hoping that Yuri wouldn't say outside. Yuri smiled lit up

"We'll camp outside for the night" Yuri said with excitement. Kiana just groaned. Kuana elbowed her with the shoulder

"Afraid of a few spiders sleeping with you?" Kiana glared at her twin

"I'm not afraid I just don't think it's safe what if we get some idiot that wants to…you know"

"Please Kiana there are a lot of great ways to defend yourself from being raped" Kuana said sounding bored

"That won't happen don't worry Kiana" Serin said remembering how that sick bandit almost raped her. Kiana looked at her with some confusion

"You okay?"

"Yeah" they decided to walk inside the forest. They stayed a few yards away from the town. They found a place to make camp. Kuana and Serin grabbed some fire wood and they lit it in seconds. They took out their blankets. Kiana looked at the ground

"I can't believe I have to sleep here"

"It might be fun" Kuana said getting in a comfortable position

"Ugh!" Kiana answered as she turned her back on the girls. Erein laid next to Serin and then she asked

"Do you know how long it'll take to get there?"

"I'm not sure Erein but last time I went with Taiits-kun on her carpet we got there in minutes"

"I sure wish Taiits-kun could save us the time" Kiana said looking at the girls

"She's not a taxi Kiana" Kuana said

"If it takes about a few minutes on air then maybe will be walking for a few more days"

"I hope not Yuri" Serin said

"We have plenty of time" Yuri said. Erein yawned and said goodnight to the girls

"Good night guys" Kiana said

"Good night" they all answered. Momo curled with Yuri. She left the hat next to Erein so Momo wouldn't grab it. They each stayed awake a while longer holding different thoughts. A few minutes later all of them were asleep.

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_Back at Mt. Reikaku_

Koji had been in bed the following day being advised by Keddoriku that he shouldn't move for a while. He couldn't get his mind of Yuri. Being worried that they were out by themselves was what bothered him. The hug was also back in his thoughts. He couldn't believe that he had the guts to hug her. Of course she was beautiful but maybe there is a strong friendship forming between them or was it more than that? Genrou came inside interrupting his thoughts

"Hey Genrou!"

"Koji" he said with a frown

"What's got you down?" he asked "Is it Yuri?" Genrou did an hmph!

"I guess it is, I heard you arguing with her too and she sounded real upset"

"Heard huh?" he said with disappointment

"Yeah so tell me what you did to her?"

"Why do you care?"

"I care about Yuri's feelings what did you say?" Genrou looked at him with surprise. Koji has never cared about a girl before so why should he care about Yuri. Maybe your jealous! His brain said. No I'm not!" "Yes you are." Genrou shook his head mentally ignoring jealous thoughts.

"Like it matters she's gone now"

"I should off known you would be acting like an idiot" Koji said with a frown

"She's the one always arguing"

"You're pretty good at it too" Genrou glared and Koji smiled then he said

"Genrou I want to go after Yuri right after this wound is healed"

"You're leaving?" he asked angry

"What you want to come too?" he asked with a smirk

"You can't go just when were barely getting settled, there's too much responsibility"

"Maybe you can go and find Yuri"

"That's the last thing on my mind" he growled

"Oh really what about her mark, that has something to do with you too"

"Yeah but I can't go and besides that little twit gets on my nerves" Genrou wanted to apologize to her but his pride kept on covering him

"You should apologize to her if you ever decide to go find her"

"Apologize?"

"Yeah you know how to do it right" he paused for a moment as if thinking "oh yeah when's the last time you ever apologized to anyone?

"So what if I've never did you probably never heard me say it?"

"Maybe you could practice on me?" Koji said smiling

"No way!" he said getting angry. Koji started laughing but then he slowly said

"Okay Genrou if you apologize to Yuri say these two simple words I'm Sorry"

"Come on Genrou apologize to me" he sighed hard. He sighed hard gritting his teeth hard. After a few moments he looked at Koji and startled babbling

"I..uh I-I-I a-a-m so.." He stopped getting frustrated. "I don't want to say it"

"Only two words Genrou just apologize" he said

"I am s-s-s-oorrruu" he didn't end it. Koji just laughed at him

Genrou glared hard at him but before Koji could say something Genrou raised his lungs yelling at Koji

"I'M SORRY!" Koji's ears were ringing. "There scar boy happy now?"

"Genrou I said to apologize to me not so the whole world could hear, uh jeez my ear"

"I'm never doing that again"

"You'll do it again I know it"

"Never! that girl needs a lot of work" he left the room slamming the door behind Koji. Genrou you're the one who needs a lot of work. Maybe I'll go find Yuri. He said. But who would take care of the hideout?

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_Inside the forest_

A black stranger with a black cape was out to get the priestess. He was sent by Nakago to kill her. A few hours of looking and the priestess wasn't found yet. If I can't do this task than master Nakago will punish me for sure. He wanted to prevent himself from getting hurt. He walked a few more steps when he felt that there were people inside the forest. He jumped on the trees and jumped from tree to tree. Then he stopped when he saw there were four girls sleeping. He'd never seen those girls before. They have that strange clothing that the Priestess has. He got down quietly getting a closer look. There were two blond head with green eyes (_Kiana and Kuana_) and one with light brown hair and grey eyes (Erein) and the other one had Dark brown hair and brown eyes (Serin). When he got to the last girl he noticed something different about her. A mark was glowing through her shirt. No! he thought She's a suzaku warrior? I have to kill her before she finds the priestess.

_Yuri was having the nightmare of those black creatures. With those red eyes staring into her blue ones she felt uneasy. With great speed she got on top of a tree so she could take another direction. They turned into their liquid forms chasing after Yuri. Their bodies could be any shape. Yuri ran as fast as she could and she found herself in the same situation. There was a cliff and now she was surrounded. This time she wouldn't give in. Instead of going to the edge she ran towards the creatures fighting them. The creatures got tangled up in her. Yuri flew in the air and did a quick spin knocking them down on the ground. She landed on the ground but not before they all got together forming into some kind of monster. Her eyes were wide open. Then the creature pushed her down the cliff. Yuri was falling down the cliff but this time instead of falling into nothing the ground came into view. Yuri closed her eyes and realized she hadn't died. Pair of strong arms was holding her tightly. She couldn't see the stranger's face. The creature came down and the stranger settled her on the ground. He threw out fire killing the creature. It was toast and Yuri was confused because she didn't know who he was. Then a pair of knifes flew right at her. _

Yuri woke up from her dream thinking about the knives. She cleared her eyes and saw them close to her. Oh gosh! She thought horrified I'm not dreaming. She started waking up her friends but they were asleep. Kiana moaned and Kuana was slapping Yuri but they woke up

"What's wrong Yuri?" Kiana asked

"Ssshhh!" Yuri hissed then she whispered "I think someone is watching us now let's pack our things and get out of here. Kiana and Kuana nodded quickly waking up Serin and Erein. They woke up slowly.

"Hey I was having a nice dream" Serin said as she cleared her eyes but then she saw knives flying right at her. Erein pushed her away

"Yuri let's get outta here" Erein said getting of Serin. A male voice was heard.

"You won't find the priestess of Suzaku my dear girl" Yuri looked around trying to find the man.

"Show your self" she yelled. Kiana and Kuana were hugging themselves as Erein was scanning on top of the trees.

"There!" she announced. Yuri, Serin and twins looked in her direction and found a man with a black cape. He appeared in front of them

"You think you can get to the priestess in time?" he asked

"Who are you?" Yuri asked glaring at him

"That is not important girl" He started throwing more knives at her. They had dark power in them and Yuri flew in the air avoiding them.

Yuri was surprised. Why is he doing this? I'm minding my own business. She landed on the ground but not before he saw her friends tied up in the trees. He put Momo inside a bag. He was barking and trying to rip the bag open.

"Yuri, get out of here!" Erein yelled

"No way!" she said. The man only showed half his face but she could see his evil smirk.

"If you come with me than I'll let this girls go"

"Don't do what he sa…" the man covered Serin's mouth and placed a knife in her throat

"Choose Suzaku warrior" he said applying more pressure to knife. Serin's muffled cries could be heard. They were all scared and Yuri didn't know what to do. Then she looked behind her and saw the hat floating in the air. Yuri looked at it with surprise. The man was already to his point of killing the girls.

"What foolishness is this?" he asked letting go of the girl and getting closer to Yuri. He was about to throw a knife at her when the hat got in front of Yuri. It threw out two blasts hitting the man. He fell down back wards. He grunted getting annoyed with the games the girls were playing. Then he got up trying to destroy the hat with his knives. The hat dodged them really fast. After a few moments the hat got in front of Yuri again but this time a figure was slowly coming from inside the hat. It turned out to be a mysterious wandering monk. Yuri was very surprised when he got out in front of Yuri. Erein's eyes thought they were playing tricks

"Is this for real?" Kiana and Kuana were amazed. Serin just stood with her mouth gaping in shock.

The monk raised his staff and out came a blue glow. The man started attacking him with knives. Blocking the moves as fast as he could the purple haired monk threw out a blast hitting the man directly. The man in the black cape fell down to the ground. He was unconscious but a few moments later he got up startling the girls. He got up in the trees his voice hoarse

"This isn't over" he disappeared into the night.

The monk just stared back where the man left. Yuri went to his side. She gave him a smile.

"Thank you" the monk looked back at her and smiled back

"No problem by the way it isn't safe to camp out here you know" he said as he went to the girls untying them. Yuri went to help

"Since all the inns were packed we had no choice but to sleep out here in the open" Chichiri gave her a frown

"It's a good thing you girls are okay sleeping out here isn't safe anymore you know"

"Wow! Where did that come from?" Kuana asked. The monk looked at her expression and simply said

"That was magic coming from the staff" he said showing her the staff. Yuri grabbed the bag that Momo was in. When she took him out he leaped into Yuri's arms licking her face.

"Okay, Okay boy, I'm glad to see you too" she giggled a little. Erein looked at the monk with wonder. Then Yuri went to the monk

"Do you know who that man was?" The monk didn't look at her as he said

"He's a servant for the general of Kutou"

"You mean the other country?" Yuri asked almost having a small remembrance of the country.

"That's what I meant you should know that Konan and Kutou are at war with each other" Yuri didn't know because she barely got there.

"But I don't know I just got here I mean I was here but I was somewhere else" she stammered. The monk already knew about her but he didn't want to scare her so instead he gave her a grin silently laughing at the way she was stammering.

"I'm Chichiri" he said

"My name is Yuri" she said extending her hand. He looked at her hand and took it. After holding it for a second Yuri decided to make introductions

"These are my friends Kiana, Kuana, Serin, and Erein" Chichiri smiled at them. Erein just nodded and the other girls said hello. Yuri picked up his hat and looked at it.

"Here" she said. He took his hat and put it behind himself

"What brings you girls out here by yourself you know?" he asked pretending not to know

"We are headed for uh Mt. Taikyoku, you might think I'm crazy if you never heard of it"

"Everyone knows about it and I believe you, I was just heading there myself you know" he said

"You know about it?" Yuri asked with suprise

"Of course you know, I've been training there for a few years now" Yuri looked at him and thought about inviting him. He doesn't look like he could harm us and besides we do owe him for saving our lives.

"Hey! Since were going to the same place why don't we go together" Yuri said inviting him. He just smiled and said

"Sure there wouldn't be any harm in adding another member" Kuana laughed at him. Kiana just smiled at him and Serin grinned. Erein just looked at him with her eyes filled with curiousity. Chichiri smiled at all the girls and then his eyes connected with Erein's for a brief moment until Kuana said

"You're really cool" she said after laughing. Chichiri assumed that was a compliment so he kind of blushed at the statement. All the girls were really fond of him. Momo didn't seem to be growling any longer.

Yuri thought he was a nice person. But that magic he used makes him seem more than he appears to be. I guess I'll have to ask him a little later she thought. It was already dawn and the sun would rise in a few hours. Yuri looked at her mirror and it pointed straight into the town. She would keep on going north then.

"We didn't get that much sleep" Serin said as she yawned

"But it's almost morning let's go" Yuri took a step when she heard her stomach growling. She froze and looked at her friends saying "After we get something to eat" Chichiri gave a grin to all the girls when he announced

"I know some good places we can go and eat" he said. Yuri gave him a wide grin

"Great let's go then!" she said starting to run.

"Wait!" Serin yelled running after her. All the girls chuckled out loud and ran after her. Chichiri walked behind them. He was eager to get to Mt. Taikyoku and see what Taiits-kun had to say to Yuri.

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**Yes! Done with the chapter. I'm sorry for going to slow. I thought they would get to Mt. Taikyoku by the end of this chapter. I guess my prediction was wrong. So we have Genrou a little on the dark side. He'll come around...eventually. Yay! I finally added Chichiri. Tell me if I have him out of character for those of you that review. I don't know if he's in character. I thank all of those who have reviewed. -bows to the audience- Au revoir!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone here's the update. I left of where Yuri and her friends had barely met Chichiri with the incident of that servant from Nakago that attacked them. Will Genrou go after Yuri? Read and find out **

**Chapter 14**

There were a lot of people having their morning breakfast outside of a little restaurant. They were cooking pork, chicken, and fish. Many customers were in line already waiting for their order. There was a professional chef who happened to be a fisherman with long black hair. His face looked focused on his work as he flipped the meat in the air for all the people to see. Chichiri and the girls were already sitting at a table inside waiting for their order to be served. Kuana had just got up from the table to get a closer look at the food the chef was cooking Serin was already following her.

"Man look at this food, I wonder if they have free samples?" Kuana was going to grab a freshly cooked piece of meat. Serin slapped her hand. Momo was already getting to the meat when Serin grabbed him and held on to him though he tried squirming his way out.

"You want to burn yourself?" Serin said with a hard tone. Momo growled at her voice.

"I was going to ask" Kuana said innocently

"If you try to steal you'll kick us out" she said getting angry. "I had to be stuck with these girls and now I have to take care of them like there 5 years old" Kuana was about to protest when the man with black hair came to the girls looking at them with interest. He grinned in a strange way as he walked up to them.

"Here" he said handing a free sample of meat to Kuana. She was surprised when she took it.

"T-t-t Thank y-you" she said shyly

"You looked as hungry as a bear" he replied as he went back to work. Serin wondered why he would just hand someone free food.

"Wow! Sweet guy, see Serin I knew he was nice enough, you seem to have bad sense of judgment" Serin was mad but didn't bother to argue with her. Something about him seemed strange though she wondered as Kuana went back to the girls and sat down. That smile he made while he was cooking was already giving her a suspicion. Unless he poisoned the food she thought as she made a frown. But all the people seemed to be fine as they were eating and enjoying their meal. She ignored the thought and decided to go back to her friends.

Chichiri was also in deep thought wondering about Serin. She sensed something wrong with that man he thought. She's just being paranoid he assumed. Serin just got to this world and she hadn't gotten use to it yet. What he thought strange was that he was expecting to only meet Mei-li as Taiits-kun called Yuri. A lot of questions formed in his mind wondering how four girls could get through barrier of this world. Yuri interrupted his thoughts

"Is something bothering you Chichiri?" Yuri asked. He turned to her giving her a smile

"I'm just wondering you know why our meal hasn't been served yet" he lied instead.

"That's true what's taking so long" Yuri said as Serin came up to sit down

"Well I'm getting hungry" Kiana said as she touched her stomach. Erein was looking at Chichiri for a brief moment as if sensing he somehow knew something about them. He wasn't just thinking about the food. It had to be something else she thought. Chichiri noticed this and made eye contact with her. She looked at him intently and never removed her eyes. Kuana broke off with the silence.

"Erein you seemed to be reading Chichiri's mind" she said with a grin. Chichiri didn't smile back at her. He looked into her eyes and wondered why she was acting like that with him.

"So Chichiri" Yuri started noticing Erein and Chichiri looking crossed with each other "what did you learn in Mt. Taikyoku?" Chichiri ignored Erein and answered

"When I turned twenty I was brought to Mt. Taikyoku by a friend of mine…and there I meet Taiits-kun where I trained learning magic spells. I became a spell caster you know then left off visiting other towns to help people with their problems" Yuri was really interested. Then Erein had a wide smile on her face all of a sudden. Kuana burst with laughter

"Oh Erein" Chichiri was getting annoyed with the way she was smiling. What is she trying to prove? He thought bitterly.

"So you are basically a wondering monk is that what you're trying to say?" Erein sounded a bit rude though she didn't mean it. Chichiri matched her smile

"That's what I do you know" he said. Erein didn't bother to reply. The man with black hair came with their order.

"Enjoy your meal" he said softly and left them. Yuri's eyes were bright as she saw the rice balls with vegetables and her beef soup.

"I've never looked at food like this before" she said with her blue eyes shinning. Serin thought it wasn't a good idea to try the food. Everyone happily started taking their first bites. Serin was the only one not trying to eat. Yuri looked at her with confusion

"Not hungry Serin?"

"No, I mean…yes! She grabbed her spoon and started eating. She's acting strange Kuana thought as she watched her eat. Serin just closed her eyes and trying to ignore everything as she enjoyed her white rice and pork with soy sauce. There was silence between everyone. Chichiri was observing the chef and noticed that in his neck he was exposing a uniform that a Kutou warrior would wear. That chef's uniform was hiding it though. Chichiri didn't want to provoke so he just ate in peace.

Yuri was feeling strange because everyone seemed so quiet. Chichiri couldn't stop thinking and Serin was feeling uncomfortable with what she was eating. Am I missing something? She thought as she slurped her beef soup. She started sensing something too but she ignored it and ate her food. Kiana couldn't stop eating and she finished first

"That was the best breakfast I've ever had" Yuri nodded to Kiana

"We should get going now" Yuri said. Chichiri nodded and got up.

"Come on" Chichiri said calmly. But it sounded as if he was rushing the girls. Yuri then sensed that Chichiri and Serin must of sense some kind of danger inside the restaurant but she couldn't bring herself to what it was. Serin was relieved but still paranoid as they came out and started walking. That's when Yuri had enough guts to ask them both as they walked in silence

"You guys were acting strangely back there" she commented as the town disappeared and they were now on another path. Yuri looked at her mirror and it pointed west.

"What do you mean, I enjoyed my breakfast" Serin said

"Oh come on, Chichiri I noticed you sensed some kind of danger in there, and you too Serin" Chichiri just simply told her

"Lots of people disguised themselves as something else in these areas in order to spy on others, I was concerned that there might be people like that lurking around you know" Yuri was now relieved

"Is that all?" she asked

"Yes" Chichiri said. Serin on the other hand still wasn't sure about that. Chichiri didn't want to worry Yuri anymore so he just smiled at her assuring her. Serin smiled a little too. Erein observed both of them still uncomfortable. But she knew Chichiri was right about people being disguised everywhere they were. The bandit wars meant that this country was a dangerous place to live in.

"Are we that much closer Yuri?" Erein asked as she looked at her mirror

"I'm not sure" Yuri said concentrating on her mirror

"It might take about a few hours you know, so it's possible to get there by the time the sun sets" Chichiri said

"My feet better be ready for this" Kiana said as she started picking up the pace. Everyone disappeared into a foggy area………..

_Kutou (inside the empire)_

Two guards were walking to the front of where the emperor of Kutou sat. His clothing was made for an emperor as his robes showed the power he had. But he had a hideous face. His eyebrows were thick and he had a mustache that would tickle the lips of any woman. His eyes were filled with amusement all the time. The two guards with their armor bowed down to the emperor as he said

"What happened to the black guard?" one of the guards stood up nervously and faced the emperor eye for eye.

"H-h-h- he was defeated by a Suzaku warrior your highness" The guard replied. The emperor smiled as he called his General who was the leader of the Kutou army. He was wearing a helmet that only showed his blue sky eyes. That is until he took it off revealing his long blond hair. He face was very beautiful but he had no emotion in his face. He had a very low voice

"You called me your highness" he said

"You sent off the black guard to assassinate the priestess of Suzaku but instead he happened to run into a suzaku warrior" Nakago gave a smirk to one of the guards and asked

"Are you sure it was one suzaku warrior?" All of sudden a black cloaked figure appear which was the black guard of course. He landed in between the emperor and bowed to him then stood up to bow to Nakago

"There was a suzaku warrior that looked like a monk and five girls with the same strange clothing as the priestess. But one of the girls had a blue mark glowing. It came to my prediction that she was one of the suzaku warriors." Nakago was satisfied when he got this information. His mind was already filled with ideas. He had great plans for the girl who his black guard assumes is a suzaku warrior.

"Why did you come back here then if you didn't finish them off" Nakago replied with some slight irritation

"The monk set me in a trap to protect the suzaku girl and that's when I decided to leave and tell my general about this girl." Nakago brought a cold smile to his lips and said

"I believe that you won't be much use to me, for now I will keep you as my spy but fail me again and I'll end your life painfully" The black guard bowed to Nakago and disappeared. The two guards were afraid of Nakago and that's why none of the guards that worked for him ever talked back to him. The emperor gave a wide grin to Nakago saying

"It seems that our Priestess will be pleased with this" he said as he got up and three attractive girl servants came to treat him to his pleasurable needs. Nakago dismissed the guards and decided to go do some hunting of his own

"Yes" he said as an afterthought when the emperor left "She will be pleased" He left to see if his Priestess needed something.

_Mt. Reikaku_

It has been a long time since Yuri left and Koji's injury healed faster than he thought it would. Though there was a big scar on his chest he didn't care about it. He felt pride for his scar because of his attempt on protecting Yuri from that snake Shan. He was gone and Koji just got out his weapon and packed some supplies. He knew that Yuri would need him and that's why he decided to sneak off without telling Genrou since he would be furious. He grabbed all his things and got out the window running walking straight into the path the girls had taken.

"Hang on Yuri, I'm coming" He started having a warm feeling for the girl every time he thought about her. She was nice and had such spirit that it gave him the will of sacrificing himself whenever she was in danger.

Meanwhile…

Genrou sat outside in the grass looking at the stars. As he saw the stars he noticed something strange going on with the stars. They started forming a constellation of some sort with 8 red stars. He sat up

"What the F#$?" he said. He thought about the eighth star for a moment. It must be Yuri as the eighth Suzaku Warrior. That's strange though he thought. Why would she be the eight warrior when there are already seven. That question sent his head spinning backwards. But then he noticed another group of stars which were blue that had was in a group of seven. It must be Seiryu. Then he noticed a red star fading from the suzaku warriors group. The star was added to Seiryu. "Shit my head is spinning" he thought as he shook himself mentally. Why did that happen? Are the stars trying to tell me something? Hell! Stars can't talk back.

He got up and decided to go inside since it was late. He was tired after having his bandits going for a day's work of stealing from some rich people that came passing through Mt. Reikaku. He went inside and walked passed all his bandits without saying a word. He went to his own room since Yuri moved. Ever since she left he could still muster her presence. Since he had his own problems to attend to he hardly had any time to think about her though sometimes she would just appear on his mind like nothing. And when that happened he would always glare and then just think for a long time. He wanted to apologize to her for what he said. He knew that it was very wrong but the way she was with him always irritated him.

Koji had also told him he would go after Yuri. But he knew that Koji wouldn't be that reckless considering the work they have to put into their place. He almost thought about leaving as well. He didn't want to admit but he knew that Yuri would need lots of help and the thought of those girls being by themselves gave him guilt because they were too inexperienced to look out for each other. But Yuri has to power of a suzaku warrior he thought she can take care of them. So there I don't have a reason to be guilty he said in his mind. Aahh! Man how can I rest my mind in peace? He got up from his bed and decided to talk to Koji about leaving so he could keep him in charge. He walked to his room and opened the door.

"Hey Koji I'll be leaving for a few days so I want you to be in charge of…" he noticed that it was empty.

"Koji?" he asked

He noticed the some of Koji's belongings were gone. He walked up to the bed looking around for anything that belonged to Koji. His eyes drifted to the window and he noticed it was open. Genrou ran to it looking out. He started glaring hard and started cursing a hundred words in his mind.

"Damm it Koji!" he said as he got out the room and walked fast to the front door. He opened it and a girl who was about to knock got startled by his presence. There were two of the most beautiful men by her side. One with long green hair and the other had purple hair with a long braid hanging down. The girl had auburn hair and a brown uniform with long white socks and black shoes. Since they noticed the Bandits glare right away they took caution in keeping the girl safe as the purpled hair man protected her while the one with green hair pointed his sword at Genrou

"Who the hell are you?" Genrou said angrily trying to get through them but blocking him.

"It's not my intention to do this to you" the man with green hair started "But I don't want to let you go just yet" The girl got in between the three men. She smiled at the orange haired bandit and said with urgency

"We are just wondering if you happened know someone called Tasuki"

Genrou looked at them with annoyance and simply said "Haven't heard of him" He managed to get through. Then the girl spoke again

"You see I'm the Priestess of Suzaku and I was hoping if you could help me find him" Genrou was surprised to see the Priestess of Suzaku then his eyes narrowed as he said

"What do I get in return if I help you?" The girl was about to speak again when the Green haired man with the red clothing spoke instead

"I'll give you all the silver and gold coins you want" Genrou knew that having money around the place would really help. He grinned showing his fangs at the man.

Genrou thought for moment if he should trust them? Man! I need to find Koji but these guys are offering money. But that will slow me down. That's when the purple haired man started whispering to the Priestess and said

"He doesn't look like he wants to negotiate" He frowned at Genrou as he smirked at him. Then he turned around to yell at Keddoriku.

"What is it Genrou?"

"Take care of the place while I'm gone" he said simply. Kedoriku always thought that Koji would be the next leader but he nodded and said

"Don't worry I'll watch it well" He said with a smile. Genrou nodded back at him and both the men and the Priestess were satisfied that he would be coming. He turned to the Priestess and said

"You have a deal" The girl decided to make introductions first

"My name is Miaka and these are my two suzaku warriors Hotohori and Nuriko." Genrou nodded at them though the purpled hair guy wasn't too fond of him as his frown got deeper. They started walking off. Genrou was walking in front as the three of them were whispering behind him

"Are you sure he should be trusted Miaka?" Nuriko asked

"I have a feeling this guy knows a great deal of Tasuki" Miaka commented. Hotohori gave Miaka a warm smile and put his arm around her shoulder saying

"We can only hope that it's not too late for Tamahome……." Miaka's faced saddened as she thought of her love. Hotohori frowned at seeing her like this as he said instead

"Tamahome will succeed and I'll make sure of that" He really didn't want to since he happened to love Miaka. She smiled at Hotohori and nodded slowly. He wanted to be the one to protect her always though she loved someone else. But since Tamahome wasn't their at the moment he would enjoy the moment of being and protecting Miaka.

Genrou had a smirk in his face. This people really trust me eh? Once I find Koji and get the money then I'll have the duty of the bandit leader and have my life go back to the way it was.

**I wanted to make this chapter short. Now we are starting to see more of Miaka. It's the first chapter that Hotohori and Nuriko made their appearances. Well I'll be working on the next chappie soon. Bye bye for now!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello everyone! **

**It has been a while since my last update. I had a lot of writer's block from this story and had run out of ideas. I went on to write other stories. After taking my time in reading it again, once again I'm ready to write and update this story. I'm sorry for the almost whole year disappearance. I'll try and update more often.**

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**Happy reading! )**

**Recap Chapter 14.**

**Yuri, and her friends are headed to see the ruler of the world Taiits-kun. Nakago is introduced as one of his armed troops comes to tell him that his black guard was defeated by a Suzaku warrior. Nakago is displeased with him, but as the black guard appears before his eyes he starts pressing on him asking about the Suzaku warrior and these so called girls that were trailing along. He mentions a girl with black hair blue eyes having a mysterious symbol on her back. Nakago is very pleased with this new mysterious female as he plans to tell his Priestess of Seriyu. Back at the Reikaku bandit's hideout Genrou is filled with guilt and grief that he left Yuri as well as her friends to struggle with the dangers of the forest. He plans to go chase after them himself. As soon as he goes into Koji's room he plans to tell him he will go. He finds out that Koji has disappeared as well. Genrou realizes that his best friend is developing affection for Yuri so he figured he went after her. Once he decides to go after Koji two handsome men and a beautiful girl with Auburn hair stand in his path. They introduce themselves as he finds out that they are Suzaku warriors and Miaka the Priestess. They are asking for another Suzaku warrior that is to be found. His name is "Tasuki." Genrou decides to go along with their little game as he makes a deal with them of receiving gold if he helps the Priestess and the warriors seek what they are looking for.**

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**Chapter 15**

_In the forest…_

Genrou was walking behind the Priestess and her Suzaku warriors. He was smirking realizing that they didn't know it was him who was the Suzaku warrior. He would plan on letting them know later. For now he just wanted to find Koji and bring him back where he can arrange his place back to the way it was. He wanted to live his normal life along the side of his best friend. He was not sure anymore if Koji was really his friend as he saw that he cared about Yuri deeply. He felt as if Koji would decide to leave him to be with Yuri. Genrou did not want to lose his best friend. He feared that he would fall apart….his Mount Reikaku place also.

Miaka was still frowning as Hotohori was witnessing. He grabbed her shoulder pressing her closer to him.

"Don't worry Miaka we will make sure that Tamahome comes back to us." Miaka looked up at Hotohori finding him compassionate and kind that he cared about her.

"Thank you Hotohori, I'm so glad that you are here to help me with Tamahome's disappearance, I don't know what I would do if you were not here to help me." Nuriko was behind them looking cheerful and filled with hope as he said.

"We're all in this together Miaka, good and bad we will find all of the Suzaku warriors." Miaka smiled at Nuriko. He did not look bad dressed as a cross dresser, on the contrary his beauty was very useful for distractions in sticky situations. Nuriko winked at Miaka as they kept walking.

Genrou rolled his eyes ignoring the three of them as he looked at his surroundings. He was thinking about where Yuri was going too. He had heard stories about the ruler of the world. He was somewhat sure about the location of the place where Taiits-kun lived. As people walked around in Mt. Reikaku town many talked about the path that leads to the ruler of everything. Many dangers lay along the path. Genrou was starting to get worried wondering about Koji as he was already headed there. _"That idiot"_ he thought as he made a deep frown. Miaka was turning to look at Genrou. She decided to walk next to him for a bit as she said in a cheerful tone.

"I'm so glad that you decided to help us, we're not sure where Tasuki is but I know that you will lead us to him, it is important to save ourselves from causing war throughout the whole land, if Seryiu gets summoned I'm afraid that we are doomed." She grimaced at the end of what she mentioned.

Genrou began in a stiff manner.

"If we're doomed, then you might as well face it." He was such a negative thinker Mika thought as she said no more to this stranger that walked with them. Miaka just patted his back a little too hard. Genrou started glowering

"HEY! What you do that for!?" Miaka could not help but laugh as she saw his expression.

"I was getting tired of just watching you be a stiff man." She giggled a bit more and stated.

"You have a great temper." She declared with a smile.

Genrou said nothing more but thought "what a weird girl" I can't believe she was meant to be the Priestess of Suzaku.

Hotohori turned around as his eyes softened when he saw Miaka cheer herself up. Genrou did not look like a man that could harm a wounded soldier. He could see that he had honor with him though he did not show it entirely. Hotohori would not be surprised if he was the one called "Tasuki."

Nuriko could not help but glower at the stranger that was journeying with them. He did not like him very much. Maybe

They headed deeper into the path. It was a foggy sight. The more they walked the less they were able to see along the way. T Miaka was a bit frightened, only for a moment as Hotohori grabbed her hand so they wouldn't separate. Nuriko did the same as he held Miaka's other hand. The stranger was not behind them. Or so they thought until he made a startling appearance causing them to scream. Nuriko could not help but glare at him as he said heatedly.

"YOU IDIOT...a bunch of years got stripped away from my life doing that!" Nuriko was furious. He even looked pale.

"It's not my fault if you're a sissy." Genrou replied in a bored tone. Nuriko just grabbed the collar of his shirt.

"If I was able to see my surroundings more I wouldn't mind grabbing you and throwing you into the nearest tree." Genrou's eye started twitching.

"You try that on me and you'll never see the end of it fancy." Nuriko would not stop fuming.

"I HAVE a name and it's not fancy you repulsive red haired son of a…" Hotohori cut him off.

"That's enough Nuriko, there is no point in fightning, we are suppose to be protecting each other not trying to kill each other over a little argument, calm yourself and that goes for you too Genrou." The red head just snorted as a reply to Hotohori's announce. It would not be very easy to escape the fog of the forest that blinded the direction they were supposed to be headed in.

They kept walking further taking caution in where they were stepping. It would be a while before they could see clearly. Genrou was still behind the three of them when he said out of nowhere.

"Maybe we should stop and make camp and wait until the fog dies out so we can walk out of the forest safely." Hotohori smiled slightly at Genrou. Miaka was so amazed at her protector's strikingly good looks. He hardly had to make an effort to look so gorgeous as he smiled, even if it is a weak one. No matter what her thoughts were she would always love Tamahome. She prayed silently to him hoping for his safe return. Her thoughts were interrupted when Hotohori started.

"Good idea Genrou." Nuriko just looked away stubbornly.

"But we don't even have a fire…how will we find wood…without trying to crash into trees?" Nuriko said as he glowered at Genrou. The oranged haired bishie just frowned at him as he thought "_What's thist guys problem, I don't know what I did to get him pissed of all of a sudden."_

Miaka decided to settle down on the floor. All of a sudden her eyes turned sparkly. Miaka could not help but create a vision of so much food around her. She was sitting on a chair, with so much food covering it. It was such a great fantasy until Nuriko patted her head enough to bring her back to reality

"I was so close to eating my miso soup." Nuriko and Miaka became Chibies and they started attacking themselves. Hotohori just sat down settled his equipment down as he remained facing Genrou. Once Miaka and Nuriko ended their little attack everyone sat down. Genrou remained the longest distance away from them as the three were conversing about him and the plans once they found all the Suzaku warriors.

Genrou thought of the possibilities if those three might know about the ruler of the world. He decided to begin by asking.

"I heard that there is a ruler of the world existing among us, I've been curious to know more about her, by any chance have you heard about her?" Hotohori sighed and Miaka started.

"We've not only heard about this woman I've already come face to face with her, she is such a prune…always scolding me off, her attitude is very stingy." Miaka crossed her arms over her chest as if thinking bad thoughts about the old woman. Nuriko just looked away from everyone. It was then Hotohori who began speaking.

"We are required to go on a task on collecting all of the seven Suzaku warriors so we could avoid a huge war breaking within our country next to us which is Kutou. We are trying as best as we can to keep peace through out the land, but now the emperor of Kutou think he can have fun by over powering us and our country itself. He thinks he can glorify himself by thinking he is better than us. It does not work that way." Hotohori was deep in thought about what he had just said. Genrou said simply.

"You seem to know about ruling a country." Hotohori plainly states.

"I am the emperor of Konan." Genrou was slightly surprised to see the emperor in ordinary villager clothes when he should be dressed in royalty discussing with his loyal subjects. Yet all he sees is the pretty auburn haired girl who identifies herself as the Priestess and the purpled haired cross dresser Nuriko. Genrou then asked.

"So I'm guessing you did not want anyone to recognize you to avoid trouble at all costs from the villagers?" the emperor spoke with slight boredom.

"Indeed I did." Hotohori then uttered at Miaka. "I wished that I could keep you from being recognized as well." He turned his attention to Genrou. "You see citizens from Kutou are being hired for a large ransom to bring Miaka to his territory. Nakago is one of the Seiryu warriors; my guess is the he plans to ambush the people from our country with his own army, though it hasn't happened yet. He wants to stop Miaka from summoning the legendary beast Suzaku at any costs and we are trying to avoid Kutou troops from reaching us." Miaka was able to have some hope left in her as she said.

"Even though Tamahome decided to venture of into Kutou I know he wanted to save my best friend Yui. This was my entire fault because Tamahome saw how sad I was to see my own friend in the hands of a Seiryu warrior. I wanted to see her again. I just led Tamahome into more danger." Tears gathered behind her eyelids. She was not able to stop them. Genrou did not speak as he felt slightly bad for the girl. Hotohori just hugged her to him.

"Please don't cry Miaka, we will try our best to bring Tamahome back safely, we won't lose to those Seiryu warriors, we'll fight every step of the way." Miaka feared that more people would get hurt because of her.

"I wish that I was able to be useful and help out when you and Nuriko are in trouble." As her depression kicked in she would not stop releasing her own tears. "_If only there was a way I could help them, if only I could be more independent, if only…" _She had never felt so useless in her life. There was a small clearing of the night sky patched with white stars. They were such small little things but they gave so much light. The fog was starting to clear out little by little. Miaka had successfully managed to cry herself to sleep as she laid on Hotohori's lap. He had not decided to sleep since he wanted to keep guard just in case some unknown character came to murder them in their sleep.

Genrou was not able to sleep most of the time. He kept turning from side to side sighing as images of Yuri appeared before his very mind. It had angered him, confused him, even shocked him that most he had thoughts about her during his sleep. "_Why won't that stupid girl come out of my head already?" _he thought with a glare. _"I hate her, it's her fault I'm chasing after Koji, she's the cause of all my problems she..."_ he tried to think as many negative thoughts about her as he possibly could so he could grow to hate her and get bored of her, that includes decreasing his thoughts about her most of the time. It was difficult though, he could only think of her beauty, spirit, and determination. _"This is going to be a long night…" _Genrou thought as his green emerald eyes were blazed with nothing but frustrated anger.

Nuriko was a further distance away from Hotohori as well as the restless Priestess that lies on the emperor's lap. The purple head could not comprehend why Hotohori had chosen some red head to lead them to someone named "Tasuki." Nuriko wasn't even positive that he was even leading them to him. There would be more observations about this stranger once dawn awakens. For now Nuriko went into a fidgety sleep. It seemed that even he would not be able to doze properly this very night.

* * *

Koji would not stop running. He somehow knew that Yuri and the girls had run up this path. It was a rocky path filled with stone walled edges. "_How far could I be from reaching them?" _he thought as he kept running upward. There had to be a clearing once he finished climbing the rocky path. It was not a familiar area since he was never went out into this side of the country. He had made a few stops which slowed him down, taken some breaks, ate at a restaurant and went on his way. As he traveled to reach the girls he thought of Genrou and how he left him at the Reikaku place. _"He must be throwing thousands of flames right now since I did not come to talk to him about chasing after Yuri." _Koji was Genrou's best friend. There was nothing that could change that. All his wonder about Yuri had blinded him to come this far to rescue her. He grew very fond of her. There was an affection that was never there before. Her charm was a dangerous thing. Something about her seemed very special. 

Then his arm was throbbing as his memory brought him back to that horrible bastard Shan that attacked him along with his accomplice Ru-su. It was still very tender and every time he ran accordingly as well as pushed himself it would be aching. Though the pain was burning within his flesh it would not stop him from reaching his destination.

He ran a few more feet aloft clearing himself into a field. It was cleared with space trees at a far distance. Somehow he felt that he was getting closer.

Koji started walking looking at his surroundings. With more alarm than ever Koji took out his blade hearing footsteps that were possibly headed his direction. Just to be sure Koji shouted.

"Show yourself?" he uttered a few more times and no reply came back to him. To his answer a few moments later two black hooded cloak figures came out into the open. Koji was glaring at both of them. Though he could not see there faces very well he knew that they were smirking behind their hoods.

"What brings a bandit like you out here when he's suppose to be watching his base?" the hooded figure on the right exclaimed with rudeness on his part.

"That's no business of yours." Koji said firmly but calmly at the same time.

"Well it's our business to make sure that you don't get out of here alive." The second dark man said with much malice in his words.

"Is that so?" Koji said with some slight boredom. "Well don't just stand there looking like a bunch of fools, show me the fight that will kill me and send me down to hell." He was slightly amused. He remembered seeing this kind of men coming to attack the villagers before. They must be guards of the emperor from Kutou, Koji stated silently. No matter, these idiots deserve to have their asses whooped. They might have done some attacking of their own to innocent people already. Koji frowned at both of them and created a more serious attitude toward them thinking these men had no care whether they kill anyone that stands in their path. It was time to teach these couple of jack asses a lesson they will never forget.

Koji took out his sword getting in a fight position. He ran towards them a moment later screaming like a savage warrior as he decided to start of with a slash attack. He had missed and the evil guards have disappeared avoiding his first attack as they got behind him to cut him to shreds with their knives. Koji could hear the knives being thrown. He rolled on the ground and as the last blade came towards Koji it got him in the arm giving him a minor cut, still bleeding in the making. He smiled viciously at both of them as they returned their atrocious grins.

The first guard got in front of Koji as he began fighting with his huge blade. The second guard decided to watch just for the fun of it. He knew his partner would finish him of easily. As he kept witnessing the fight he noticed they were both equal in speed. Both of them held on as they battled with their weapons. Koji was not easily beaten. He knew this horrid dark man was very strong, though it was not enough to discourage Koji into losing against him. The guard was trying to find an open targeted area to stab Koji in. He was able to dodge every attack without opening himself to the guard. There had to be a way to attack him directly thought the guard bitterly as he kept holding against his own blade when Koji was trying to bring him down. Without notice of what was going on Koji was forcing to bring the guard down with his sword pushing down the guard with his own blade towards the ground. Fury gave Koji more strength as he kept bringing him down. With all his might the guard pushed him back knocking him backwards. The guard gripped his blade getting ready to stab Koji.

There was no escape Koji thought as he was not able to stand up. This would be a crucial blow. He would not be able to reach Yuri now. All he had wanted was to see her again. Because of running after her he had gotten himself in a tight situation with two murderous goons. At least his memory would not forget that beautiful face. It would remain with him forever. He whispered her name.

He had thought he died. There was a black haired woman filled with concern and worry. Koji was barely able to see her. He saw sapphire eyes. Then unconsciousness had swept him away stripping him of the beauty that he had seen.

Yuri was holding Koji in her arms. She was looking close at Koji making sure he was alright. A few tears gathered behind her eyelids. There was guilt in Yuri's eyes knowing he had come after them.

"Oh Koji." She breathed touching his face. Kiana and Kuana were both standing watching Chichiri fight off the guards. They were not match for him. His staff was really filled with interesting and mysterious power Erein thought as she saw the purple haired monk in battle. Serin was sitting next to Yuri helping her out with Koji. Erein stood behind them both. The guards were finally warned out showing signs that the battle had finally ended. Chichiri smirked at both of them saying.

"Get outta here and don't come back ya know." They both were filled with malevolence.

"This isn't over Suzaku warrior; you may have one this battle but once we gather what we need you won't be so lucky the next time." With that as their last words they disappeared into the night leaving Chichiri in thought as he stared at the same way they left from.

After a few moments the wondering monk landed in front of Erein. All she could do is look at him. Chichiri thought this woman was strange. She just stared of him and then asked.

"So wondering monk…what do you think the emperor of Kutou plans to do?" she was very open minded Chichiri thought. Her gray eyes looked very secretive though. She looked very strong and the kind that could hide her emotions.

"I'm not sure what the emperor of Kutou is playing at you know, but I gotta feeling it's not gonna be such a pleasant plan you know." That was all he could say. Erein didn't respond just stay there watching him silently. Then she looked at Yuri and the girls approaching as they saw Koji was out cold. Yuri looked at Chichiri with tears gathering behind her eyelids.

"We need to get him to a doctor!" She said urgently. Both Kiana and Kuana nodded. Serin was holding her face witnessing the poor man who had been injured. Erein just stood there expressionless but showing sympathy for Yuri.

"We're almost to Taiits-kun though you know; she might be able to help out Koji." Chichiri mentioned as behind those trees would be their destination. Yuri slowly swallowed and gulped at the same time. She looked warmly at Koji saying softly.

"Don't worry Koji you're going to be alright, just hang in there for me." They all starting getting up as Yuri and Chichiri both helped carry Koji by both his shoulders to support him.

"What lead him to come here so sudden?" Chichiri supposed aloud. Yuri thought silently trying to figure out what had gotten him so far enough to leave his own place.

Chichiri was glad that they were almost to Taiits-kun world. She would be there to release her answers on what they should do. Yuri was a bit nervous about seeing the prune again. "_I_ _wonder if she has changed since I left"_ Yuri thought with a smile. Probably not she reflected amusingly along time ago on how she saw Taiits-kun and how wrinkly she was. It wouldn't be surprising to see her skin falling down the ground.

"We're almost there." Chichiri announced with a smile to everyone. Erein just looked at him and said nothing. Kiana and Kuana grinned widely. Serin nodded with cheerfulness, and Yuri was smiling at Chichiri.

"I wonder what Taiits-kun hided from me for so long that she did not want to mention." Yuri said to Chichiri. He simply said.

"We'll find out when we get there you know."

_Along the rocky mountain land of Taiits-kun_

There was a fancy robed old lady hiding in the dark. She smirked as she saw Chichiri, an unconscious held man, and the girls heading to see her.

"So they think they can just climb over here and greet me so easily, we will see about that." She put her hands together and rubbed them her eyes glowing evilly.

**Finished! What will Taiits-kun do to these poor travelers? Will they be able to make it to her land? Wait for Chapter 16 to find out. **

**Author Notes: Well if you guys see any mistakes with my grammar or spelling let me know. It helps me to get feed back from you readers.**


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